Manchester United's makeshift squad returned from last night's Champions League victory at Wolfsburg bolstered by the news that several established names are due to return against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side beat the German champions without 15 senior players, 13 of them out with illness or injury but Nemanja Vidic, below, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney are all scheduled to return at home to Villa.

With injury ruling out Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans and John O'Shea until the new year and Wes Brown also unavailable, Ferguson will, however, be forced once again to field two midfielders in his defence. "With Vidic coming back [from flu] I should be able to have a back four of Darren Fletcher, Vidic, Michael Carrick and Patrice Evra against Villa," said United's manager who, unusually, fielded a back three in Wolfsburg where Evra was his sole recognised defender.

However, a United source has has dismissed reports that Ferguson could be ready to sign the former England central defender and current free agent Sol Campbell, who left Notts County in September, as "nonsense".

It will be fascinating to see whether Michael Owen, scorer of a hat-trick during the 3-1 win in Germany that ensured United topped Champions League qualifying Group B, holds his starting place on Saturday when both Rooney and Berbatov are scheduled to return following hamstring and knee injuries respectively. Louise Taylor