Eriksen is pictured BACK in Man Utd training after being out since January

Christian Eriksen has returned to first-team training after being out injured since late January.

The Manchester United midfielder has been unavailable since sustaining a heavy tackle from Andy Carroll in their FA Cup win over Reading.

The Dane was initially ruled out until the end of April with ankle ligament damage, but has made good progress and been pictured back in first team training.

Erik ten Hag revealed Eriksen was approaching match fitness on Tuesday, but did not risk him for United's 1-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday night.

His return comes at an excellent time for the Red Devils, as they look to cling on to fourth place with 10 league games remaining.

They will be without Casemiro for one more game following his four-match suspension for receiving a red card against Southampton, but could have a full-strength midfield available for their clash with Nottingham Forest on April 16.

It has been a turbulent few days for United, as some were left doubting their ability to finish in the top four this season after a disappointing loss to Newcastle at the weekend.

They looked to be back to their best as they beat Brentford courtesy of a Marcus Rashford goal, and are now three points clear of fifth place Tottenham with a game in hand.

Ten Hag felt United were a much improved side in the game, as he said afterwards: 'There was passion and desire that was missing on Sunday and we got over the line.

'When you lose focus, mistakes can happen. We want to play as a machine and not make mistakes. We made one mistake and thankfully they didn't benefit from it.

'We are not there, where I want it. Sunday was not acceptable. This is not United, not our standards. There is a certain mentality and when one or two [players] can't bring this, you have a problem.

'We had to bounce back and we did. I liked a lot the way we played in the first half, against a very tough opponent - especially against the top teams.'

United will next be in action against Everton in the early kick off on Saturday before facing Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League quarter final next Thursday.