Paul Scholes is in line for an early return for Manchester United tomorrow, just four weeks after undergoing knee surgery.
The England midfielder has recovered far faster than expected and could start the Premiership match at Charlton if Ruud van Nistelrooy fails to recover from the hamstring injury that forced him off at half-time in the the midweek Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen.
With another Champions League date on Tuesday - against Olympiakos at Old Trafford - United boss Alex Ferguson will not risk the Dutch striker unless the problem has completely cleared.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be expected to lead the attack and Scholes could be played alongside him in preference to Diego Forlan.
Scholes has not played since September 3rd and news of his speedy recovery from surgery will be good news for England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, currently finalising his squad for next month's Euro 2004 qualifiers against Slovakia and Macedonia.
United's young Irish defender John O'Shea has recovered from concussion incurred in a clash of heads during Tuesday's game in Germany and he and Gary Neville are in contention for the right-back berth.
Neville has come off the bench in United's last two matches but is still looking for his first start since recovering from the broken foot which forced him to miss the World Cup.