Sir Alex Ferguson believes that the return to fitness of Rio Ferdinand is ‘vital’ to Manchester United’s chances of nullifying the threat of record Champions League goalscorer Raul (6/1 First/Last Goalscorer) on Tuesday night.

The England ace has been struggling with various injuries in recent seasons but timed his latest return to perfection as he slotted back into the defence to help shackle Chelsea in the quarter-final first-leg at Stamford Bridge, as United secured a pivotal 1-0 advantage.

“Rio’s ability showed itself in the first leg against Chelsea,” Ferguson said. “He was absolutely immense.

“That experience and ability is vital in the situation we are in at the moment. He is fresh and ready to play and that is a big step forward for us.”

Raul has scored five goals this season to extend his record to 71 as the tournament’s leading scorer and will be an obvious threat, particularly having bagged four in three previous games against United while at Real Madrid.

Nemanja Vidic is set to resume his partnership with Ferdinand at the heart of the defence (United 5/4 to keep a clean sheet) after being rested against Everton at the weekend, while Patrice Evra should return to the starting XI after his substitute appearance on Saturday as United look to maintain their impressive defensive away record in the competition, having yet to concede a goal.

Michael Carrick and Park Ji-Sung are also back in contention but Dimitar Berbatov has been ruled out with a groin strain while Darren Fletcher is still suffering with a virus.