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Hargreaves keen to make up for lost time
22:45, Mar 18 2010
Manchester United and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves took his first tentative steps on the road to full fitness on Thursday night and declared he had some "unfinished business" to attend to.
Hargreaves has been sidelined for 18 months with a chronic tendinitis problem he did not feel was adequately dealt with when it was first diagnosed, but he finally made his comeback in the reserve side's 2-0 win over Burnley at Altrincham's Moss Lane ground.
"Absolutely it's unfinished business," he said. "To not to be able to play from 27 to 29 is incredibly disappointing."
Hargreaves arrived from Bayern with the tendinitis problem but completed around half of United's games during that first season, including the famous Champions League final win over Chelsea in the Luzhniki Stadium.
Little did he know he was making the injury much worse and he subsequently underwent surgery on both knees under the guidance of renowned Colorado-based knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman.
"Not everybody's right and people make mistakes. That's part of life," Hargreaves added. "Ideally they don't involve you. When they do, you aren't too happy about it.
"In the end I missed two full seasons for Man United. I came here with high expectations for myself, and from the club's side of it, and the fans. I had a very successful time at Bayern Munich and won everything. But I wanted a change. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to play for Manchester United.
"I wanted to come here and win the Champions League. We did that but I didn't really celebrate that season in Moscow. I was disappointed that I'd missed games. Although I had an impact, it wasn't as big as I would have wanted."
After what he has been through, it is perhaps understandable the Calgary-born star does not want to push his body too much.
"I could never have imagined it I could have been out for 18 months," he said. "This was the first step in what has been an incredibly long ordeal and I am very happy to be back."
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