Manchester United injury news: Phil Jones returns to training and could make his bow against Aston Villa

Manchester United have reportedly received a timely boost after defender Phil Jones returned to training after missing the last seven weeks with a shin injury.

According to the Mirror, the defender, who has only featured for United four times this season, has returned to training. The Liverpool game will be too early for him to return to action, but he could make his come back in the next game, which is away at Aston Villa.

Louis van Gaal will be glad to hear the news following yesterday's report regarding Chris Smalling's unavailability for over a fortnight. The Red Devils are also missing right-back Rafael and defensive midfielder Daley Blind.

The Old Trafford club have had wretched luck with injuries this season, with the manager unable to play a fully settled back four this far into the season. He currently has just two fit first-team centre halves in Marcos Rojo and Jonny Evans and will hope that the duo can remain fit throughout the busy Christmas and New Year period.

The Dutchman has been heavily linked with moves for various defenders during the January transfer window, with Borussia Dotmund's Mats Hummels and Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin the most frequently mentioned names.

But the manager recently came out and backed his defenders to do the job needed to take United back into the top four and into the Champions League next season, thus quashing all rumours with regards to a move for a new player.

Meanwhile, United striker Radamel Falcao has revealed that he has English lineage and that his maternal great grandfather was born in Selby, North Yorks.

"I have English blood running through my veins. My maternal great-grandfather was born in Yorkshire in England but was contracted to work for a company who had a base in Colombia," Falcao said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"So they moved across to Santa Martre and they liked it very much. It was a sunny place with beaches and a seafront so they never went back to England and preferred to stay in Colombia," the Colombian striker added.