Rio Ferdinand will make his Manchester United return against Hull (Man United 1/6 draw 6/1 Hull 14/1 Premier League – match betting) in the Premier League on Saturday – and Nemanja Vidic could make his comeback against AC Milan in the Champions League, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed.

England defender Ferdinand has not played since the defeat by bitter rivals Liverpool on October 25 because of a long-standing back complaint.

However, Ferguson revealed on Friday he expects Ferdinand to be fit to face the relegation-threatened Tigers at Old Trafford in the day’s only Premier League fixture.

He said: “Rio has been training very well in the last few weeks. He will play tomorrow.”

“This is the time to bring him back,” added the United boss.

“We have gone through the whole situation with him in terms of enough training and endurance work.

“It is a big boost because the defence has been the weakest part of our game this season.”

Ferguson said fellow centre-back Vidic is about 14 days away from recovering from a calf injury, which gives the Serbia international a chance of making the first knockout-round clash against David Beckham’s Milan (AC Milan 6/4 draw 2/1 Man United 13/8 Champions League – match betting) in Italy on February 16.