United set for triple injury boost

 Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has warned his team will only get stronger in the title race as he prepares to welcome back a trio of key players from injury.
United beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at White Hart Lane on Sunday to stay within two points of league-leaders Manchester City in what Ferguson described as their hardest away match this season.
The victory marked the end of a tough run of matches for the defending Premier League champions, who now head into a more favourable set of fixtures further boosted by the return of Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley and Antonio Valencia.
"It's a massive, massive position that we're in now, really good position,'' said Ferguson. "We'll have Smalling ready for Thursday, Cleverley will be ready for next Sunday, Valencia will be ready in ten days' time. If we get a big squad, it's going to give us a better chance.''
United's cause has also been helped by David De Gea finally beginning to look like the goalkeeper they paid Atletico Madrid £18 million for last summer.
The Spaniard produced another fine display on Sunday to keep a dominant Spurs at bay, especially a superb reaction save from Jake Livermore's deflected drive.
Ferguson said: "Fantastic save, absolutely brilliant, and that's the kind of save that the boy's capable of making. He did it last week at Norwich, made two or three great saves then. He's done it again.''
Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans have also made light of captain Nemanja Vidic's season-ending injury, no more so than on Sunday.
Ferguson said: "They were brilliant. I don't know how many headers they got out, cleared up during the game - it was fantastic. And you need that.
"Last year, it was the same when we came here and Vidic and Ferdinand were brilliant, also, knocking them away.
"We've got to realise - and I think we do - that to come here and get that result is really first class.''
Ferguson had no qualms admitting his side rode their luck against Tottenham.
"It's an entirely unbelievable result,'' he said. "I would say that's our hardest away game of the season. They'd only lost one game - it was their first home game, I think, against City, when they had a few injury problems."     written by
                                 ESPNsoccernet staff