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Man United boosted by return of back four

Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Rafael and Patrice Evra missed Saturday's 2-1 victory over Southampton in the FA Cup, the second successive game United rallied to win after falling behind.

Villa may not be as forgiving as Southampton and Blackpool, having triumphed 1-0 in this fixture last season to collect their first victory at United for 26 years.

"We should have our back four back against Villa," manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the club website.

"Vidic should be alright. Rio started running on Thursday and hopefully will be okay by Tuesday. Rafael should also be okay, he got the all-clear on Friday and Evra had a family bereavement so we left him out at Southampton."

Dalglish said on Monday the defender was available for Wednesday's match at home to Stoke City after dislocating his shoulder in November.

It remains to be seen whether Fernando Torres is still in a Liverpool shirt or will have moved south in time for Chelsea's trip to Sunderland on Tuesday, with the champions' pursuit of the striker the hot topic on deadline day.

Third-placed Manchester City travel to Birmingham City on Wednesday and are hoping striker Carlos Tevez will have recovered from a back problem that kept him out of Sunday's 1-1 FA Cup draw with League One Notts County.