Gary To Feature At Rome

Gary Neville missed Thursday's Reserve match but could face Roma on December 12, in United's last Champions League fixture.

The experienced right-back, 32, has not played a game for the Reds since March 17, that is to say, he's been out for almost nine months now.

He was pencilled in to play another competitive game for the reserves on Thursday but he missed the 2-0 victory over Sunderland, raising new fears about his capapbility of ever returning.

However, Sir Alex assured everyone that Gary is coming along fine and might even play a first-team game before long.

'Obviously it begs the question when he didn't play in the Reserves game on Thursday night,' he told the press conference, quoted on manutd.com, 'but at the moment he prefers to keep training with us.

'He could have played in the Reserves but he wants to get to a good level of fitness. We concur with that because it's important he gets plenty of good training sessions before he starts playing in games.

'There's a possibility that, if he comes through next week okay, I'll take him to Rome and play him in the Roma game. He's coming along well and I don't think he's far away now.'

Will Nev ever pull on the red shirt in a first-team match again? I would not wish to cast doubts upon the manager's credibility but these promises of Gary's return stretch my patience. Let's state for now that I don't expect him to be included in the squad that travels to Rome. May I be wrong.