Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is optimistic of having Owen Hargreaves ready for action in three weeks’ time.

Hargreaves has not turned out for Man United for over twelve months after going under the knife to fix a tendinitis problem on both knees.

The England international did his rehabilitation in the United States before returning to Manchester early last month to finish the preparations for his comeback bid.

Ferguson has revealed that the club will be careful with the 28-year-old's progress due to how long he has been out for.

"Owen's doing a lot of good work now and we're pleased with that," he said.

"As I said when he came back to Manchester, it's not something we need to rush. Because he's been out for a year, we monitor it a bit more closely.

"But he's giving us good signs and he should be back at the first-team level three weeks from now, easily."

Meanwhile, Jonny Evans should be fit for selection after recovering sufficiently from an ankle problem which forced him out of the Northern Ireland squad this week, in time to take on Bolton on Saturday.

The 21-year-old will most probably start from the bench as Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic will man the rearguard for the Red Devils.

The defender has admitted that the team is keen on putting the 2-2 draw against Sunderland behind them this week.

"I thought Sunderland did really well and deserved to come out of the game with something," he told United Review.

"We didn't really apply ourselves the way we can, especially at home, so we were disappointed with that.

"But we took a point out of the game, which probably wasn't a bad result given the way we played.

"The international break has meant we've been away from each other for a while.

"But we've all been looking forward to the chance to get out there against Bolton, get three points, and get back to the kind of form we were in before the Sunderland game."