Rio Ferdinand is adamant that he has recovered from the back injuries that he has suffered throughout this season.

Ferdinand has only appeared in 13 games for Manchester United and has been unable to don the captain's armband for England due to injury.

However, after silencing his critics in his performance with Nemanja Vidic against AC Milan on Wednesday, the defender is optimistic that he can build on his fitness against Fulham on Sunday.

"Hopefully I've now got my finger on the pulse," he said.

"I am confident, I'm doing a lot of training in the rehab room and I do loads of stuff to prevent anything else happening.

"I'm feeling very good. It's just nice to be playing again. Two games in a week, yet in the last couple of months I've not been able to imagine playing once so it's good to be in this position."

Having regained match fitness, Ferdinand is taking it one match at a time. England and the World Cup will have to take a backseat as he aims to help United to Premier League and European glory.

He said: "I only think about what's going on now at United. Then, once we finish the season, we can sit back, evaluate and go on from there."