Hargreaves: Time to Gel

Owen Hargreaves has assessed the season so far, and is looking forward to getting on the pitch with Ronaldo and Rooney - something he hasn't been able to do yet because of injury and suspensions.

"Any time you don't have players like Louis, Wayne and Cristiano it is difficult. They are three of the best players in England," said Owen.

"It will be great to have them all back. Ryan was missing as well against Sunderland. Some of our best players were missing. Once we get them all back I am very excited."

Hargreaves is one of four new additions to the team, and reckons the new boys need a little time to settle in.

"It is just little things. It takes time for players to get to know each other and how they are going to react in certain situations," the 26-year-old England midfielder added.

"There are times when you realise you haven't played with these people before. It takes games to get used to it. It will come with time.

"When you look at the break we have now, it is a great opportunity to go into it with a positive experience. We have put ourselves in a good position for when we come back. We have Everton away next and hopefully we can go there and get three points."

Saha ended his injury misery against the Premiership newcomers and Hargreaves believes the Frenchman will add a fresh dimension to United's attack.

"It was a relief in the end on Saturday," he said.

"It was a very similar game to the one with Tottenham. Our play was a bit slow in the first-half. We didn't really create any chances and Sunderland defended very well.

"They made it very difficult for us. I was thinking after about 20 minutes this was going to be another tough one. You have to take your hat off to Sunderland. They defended extremely well.

"We got into our rhythm at the end of the first-half and the second only went one way. Louis came on and gave us great presence up front. His little bit of quality helped us to win the game.

"Louis has come on with that presence up front. He has the ability to get in behind defenders at times. He has great presence on the ball and scored a great goal. We looked very flexible in the second-half."