Rooney, Rio return to take on club mate Giggs

Rio Ferdinand has completed an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test and has impressed for United, while Sol Campbell has recovered from an Achilles injury, leaving no room for reliable stand-ins John Terry and Ledley King.

Though England’s Group Six campaign hardly needs rescuing, after a 2-2 draw in Austria and a 2-1 victory in Poland last month, the 18-year-old’s comeback is bound to give them a lift.

Expectations were already being raised after Rooney marked his Manchester United debut two weeks ago with a Champions League hat-trick at Old Trafford against Fenerbahce. On Saturday, he is likely to start up front with Michael Owen, who should have shaken off a back injury, and in-form Jermain Defoe as coach Eriksson looks set to play with a three-man attack.

England, trailing group leaders Austria on goal difference, will hope to be top on Saturday night — after the Austrians host Poland and before Wednesday’s qualifier in Azerbaijan.

However, Eriksson’s men will be wary of taking anything for granted in a game that will pitch together Premier League friends and foes. United could well have four players on their home pitch — Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Rooney for England, against Wales winger Ryan Giggs.

It will also be a nostalgic moment for captain David Beckham, now in his second season at Real Madrid after a career at United.

In the dugout, Wales’s outgoing coach Mark Hughes is a former Old Trafford favourite after two spells with United in which the striker won domestic and European honours.

This fixture also has a special significance for Hughes, who scored the only goal when the two nations last met at Wrexham in 1984, before the home internationals were scrapped. That was their 97th and last meeting and represented a rare win for the Welsh, who have only beaten England 14 times since they first met in 1879. (Reuters)