Sir Alex has said he is hopeful that John O'Shea will play again this season, many reports this week suggested that O'Shea would be out for the rest of the season. The defender suffered a blot clot playing with Rep. of Ireland, in the controversial French defeat. But the gaffer is keeping his hopes up ! 

O'Shea has not played since November, suffering a blot clot - which was first thought to be a dead leg. The Irishman was The Reds first choice right-back, but Wes Brown has since taken over after recovering from injury.

"Reece Brown, the youth player (Wes Brown's brother), had exactly the same injury as John and all of a sudden, he’s fit," said the boss. "It looked as though Reece was going to be out for quite a while. He got the injury in October but he’s fit now. John will not be back quickly but hopefully we’ll get some of the season from him."

In Sir Alex's earlier press conference, he described the problem in detail, and bemoaned the loss of O'Shea's versatility.

"The problem is that the blood clot became all knotted and when that happens, you get calcification. It takes a long time to clear that up. It's a bad blow for the boy and for the team - because he can play anywhere," Sir Alex told the Irish Independent. "When you look at all the problems I've had with the back four this season, he could have played in every single position."