Ferdinand nearing United return

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson rates Rio Ferdinand as the most likely of his injured stars to be available for tomorrow’s Premier League encounter with Stoke.

Ferdinand was on the bench at Liverpool on Saturday despite having had only one training session prior to the Anfield defeat following a back problem.

Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones (both ankle) may come into contention but Nani (foot) will miss out.

Provisional squad: De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos, Smalling, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evra, Jones, Evans, Fabio, Fryers, Cole, Carrick, Scholes, Pogba, M Keane, Valencia, Park, Giggs, Rooney, Welbeck, Berbatov, Hernandez.