Owen hat-trick provides double tonic for Fergie

SIR Alex Ferguson woke up today with more than just Michael Owen’s hat-trick against Wolfsburg to smile about.

The Manchester United manager is ready to welcome Nemanja Vidic back to his starting line-up and would be satisfied if the Serbian was the only man available to ease his injury-ravaged defence.

Ferguson was without 14 senior men for last night’s Champions League encounter, eight of them defenders.

Yet the Red Devils made light of the handicap, beating the German champions 3-1.

Ferguson is unconcerned about the problems, even though Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on Saturday.

“I expect Vidic to be fit and if he is available we would have him and Michael Carrick, plus Darren Fletcher and Patrice Evra,” he said.

“I would be happy enough with that.”

Ferguson also expects to have Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov available to face Martin O’Neill’s men, who have once again moved to the fringes of a top-four place.

That might mean a quick relegation back to the substitutes’ bench for Owen, who marked a rare start by converting his first Champions League treble since 2003.

Ferguson said: “It was a fantastic performance.

“Michael’s finishing and positional play were superb,” added the United boss.

“I have had no worries about him.”