MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - England central defender Rio Ferdinand returned to the Manchester United starting line-up against Premiership rivals Liverpool after serving his eight month ban for missing a drugs test.
The 25-year-old played his last match for United on January 17 against Wolves before starting his ban.
The 33-times capped star has been brought back immediately by manager Sir Alex Ferguson as United attempt to kickstart their Premiership campaign which sees them with just one win in their five matches and 10 points off leaders Arsenal.
"I'm delighted and had no hesitation in selecting him," Ferguson told Sky Sports.
"I didn't want any hype. He is incredibly focussed and has been training brilliantly.
"We've missed him and I am amazed at how good a player he is."
Ferguson admitted he would be ecstatic if Ferdinand repeated the feat of another United icon, Eric Cantona, who served a nine month ban in 1995 for assaulting a Crystal Palace fan after he was the victim of verbal abuse.
"Eric scored for us (against Liverpool ironically) and Rio has never scored for us so that would be quite something," said the Scot.