England midfielder Owen Hargreaves will play his first match since September 2008 when he lines up for Manchester United's reserve team next week.

Hargreaves has twice had surgery on tendinitis in both knees and British newspapers had speculated that his career could be over.

But Hargreaves has been training with the first team and will play against Manchester City reserves on Thursday.

United manager Alex Ferguson says Hargreaves "has shown for the first time that he's almost ready to play."

Hargreaves was voted England's player of the year in 2006 for his performances at that year's World Cup.