Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Alan Smith is still nowhere near 100% fit following his horrific double leg break.
Seven months after suffering the injury at Liverpool, the Manchester United forward announced his impending return over a fortnight ago.
Yet, it was only on Tuesday night in Lisbon that Ferguson finally let Smith make his comeback appearance, and even then it was only as a late substitute in United's Champions League triumph over Benfica.
The 25-year-old responded to his five-minute outing in typically wholehearted fashion. But, already Smith has been told not to expect a recall to Ferguson's starting line-up for Sunday's Old Trafford clash with Newcastle.
"Alan is not 100%," said Ferguson. "He is still well short of that. "You always know Alan will play with honesty and make it hard for defenders, which is one of the reasons why I brought him on."
Saha's sole strike was enough to give them their first Champions League away win in almost three years. Not since Diego Forlan netted the winner against Panathinaikos in November 2003 have the Red Devils tasted victory on foreign soil, one of the major reasons why their European campaigns have been so poor in recent years.
Although Ferguson pointed out not many of his present crop have been associated with that long run of failure, the Scot accepted it was a record that needing breaking.
"For a club with our history, we expect to do better away from home," he said.
with his injury, it was a good sign when I see him running in the last 5mins.
given a fracture and a dislocated on the same leg, most of us would have lose our B***.
I would love to see his first tackle, given his nature.
maybe some of it can rub off to Rooney...
it was great to see him back
