Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Chris Smalling has been named in the squad for tomorrow night's match against Braga.

Smalling has yet to feature this season after breaking a metatarsal during his recovery from a persistent groin problem during the close season.

Ferguson thinks that Smalling is ready to make a first-team return in the Champions League and help ease United's shortage of fit central defenders.

He told reporters: "Chris Smalling is with the party and will be involved tomorrow.

"That is really good news because as we know, since the start of the season, we've been operating on the borderline in terms of certain defenders having to play all the time.

"We've also had to play Michael Carrick as a centre-back so this can only help us with that."

Ferguson also revealed that Phil Jones will return to full training next week as he continues to battle back from back and knee problems.