IT'S JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS

Butt on his comeback:

"I am getting there slowly. It is a case of taking it easy now and not doing anything stupid. I have been in the gym keeping fit and hopefully, once I have proved myself running again, I can go back into full training quite quickly.

"If everything goes well this week then I should be back full training next Monday. Hopefully that may take me to Boxing Day or something like that for a chance of being selected again.

"But I don't want to think about targets. I have been doing that for the last three or four weeks and then the ankle keeps swelling up and puts me back. It has been frustrating. It is just a case of seeing how it goes now and how it reacts to the things I am doing.

"The problem is you just don't know how it is going to be from day to day and whether it has gone for good. I could wake up tomorrow and it (the ankle) is perfect or I could wake up and it could still be swollen.

"That's been just part of the frustration about the whole thing. From day one I have not really known how long I would be out with it.

"If you are told it is going to be a certain amount of time then you can get your head round it better. It has been a pain in that respect.”

Rio on his injury:

"It's been longer than I thought it would be but these things happen and you have to get on with it. I'm on the right road now.

"The people that have come in have done well and it makes it difficult for the manager when players get fit. Since I have been here I haven't had a consistent run in the team like I would have liked. I have missed some big games.

"There has been Liverpool, Arsenal, West Ham and the European games and I'm disappointed to miss them as you get a buzz off those games.

"But we are now back in a position where we are in contention for silverware. There aren't many teams that could have had the injuries we have had and come through them with flying colours.”