"If Keane comes back anything like he was when he left, then he is the heart and soul of their side. Alex paid us a compliment by not resting anybody but he needs all his players so he can rotate a little bit," said Curbishley.
Carlos Queiroz confirmed that Keane’s recovery was ahead of schedule and that he could be back sooner than planned: 'The recovery process has been fantastic.'
Alex Ferguson praised the recovery powers of another returning hero - Paul Scholes:
"There are few better at coming into attacking situations from central midfield, he has the craft to create openings with one pass. He is a clever little player and to say he only came back to training last Sunday, he has done really well.''
Van Nistelrooy paid tribute to the Ryan Giggs: "He's the best player that you can dream of playing with. He decides games on his own."
Ferguson said van Nistelrooy's made the difference:
"Once we put Ruud on, it made an incredible difference to our team, with his sheer presence, running ability and movement off the ball, he's a handful to anyone,"