Manchester United striker Alan Smith returned to the public arena at Preston on Monday night, exactly 184 days since suffering his horrific double leg break in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.Smith appeared to come through his first official reserve team outing unscathed, lasting 66 minutes of the 7-2 Lancashire Senior Cup win at Deepdale.While the England international did look some way short of match fitness, with Wayne Rooney suspended for United´s next three games, he could have an outside chance of muscling his way onto the bench for Saturday´s Barclays Premiership encounter with Watford.
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.
