Manchester United: Antonio Valencia confirms he has completely recovered from foot injury

Manchester United defender Antonio Valencia has revealed that he has completely recovered from the foot injury he suffered in October, which kept him out for five months and is now ready to play his part in the run-in to secure Champions League football. The Red Devils are only a point off fourth placed Manchester City and are also involved in the FA Cup, where they have a quarter-final replay scheduled against West Ham on Wednesday, 13 April.

Valencia played eight minutes as a second-half substitute in their 1-0 win over Everton at Old Trafford last weekend and expects to be involved in a greater capacity when the Red Devils take on Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. The Ecuador international had to be operated on for the injury he picked up but insists that he has completely recovered from that setback.

"I'm really keen to play," Valencia told Manchester United's official website. "After five months out of action, I'm happy with the way the operation went and overjoyed to be back and available. I'm fully recovered and, when I play, it's very important for me to perform well to show how much I like being here and how much I love this team."

However, Valencia is not too pleased with the situation that these two teams are meeting in, with Spurs still fighting for the title, while United have to make do with a possible place in the top four. The north London club are currently seven points adrift of leaders Leicester, who also have a game against United coming up in the last few games of the season.

"It'll be exciting for us as we're playing for our place in the Champions League next season. And when you're playing against opponents who are challenging for the title, in the shape of Tottenham and Leicester, they are going to be big fixtures," Valencia added.

"It will be interesting but a little bit sad in a way because we feel that we should be fighting for the title itself. But we have to make sure we keep on this winning run in order to achieve what we need to.

"We know how important historically the Champions League is here, how happy it would make the fans to qualify for that competition again for next season. So the main battle is to get back into that top four."