Grella close to Blackburn return

Grella joined Blackburn from Torino for £4m last year

Blackburn midfielder Vince Grella is confident he has almost fully recovered from a thigh injury which has kept him out of action for a number of weeks.

The 30-year-old Australia international has been sidelined since sustaining the injury during the Socceroos' friendly against Holland on 12 October.

"It's feeling good," Grella told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"The game against Manchester United may be a little bit close but I should be good for Portsmouth [on 7 November]."

Grella, who joined Blackburn in August 2008, has gone on to make 24 appearances for the club, including five this campaign.

He was sent off in his last appearance for Blackburn in the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on 26 September.

"I'm not going to get myself down like I've done before," said Grella.

"I'm going to enjoy my football, but things happen and little injuries happen to all footballers so I'm not too worried about it.

"Not only have I had the quad strain but I've had a bad dose of the flu as well so haven't had a good couple of weeks, but feel good now."

Rovers have struggled away from home, losing all nine of their league games since beating Fulham in March.

But Melbourne-born player Grella, who has been capped 42 times by his country, feels Rovers are more than capable of embarrassing United this weekend.

"It won't be an easy game because they've had a few less than positive results," said Grella.

"So they'll be looking to get a winning streak back together and we'll have to make it hard for them.

"Why can't we beat them? We've beaten them before so we need to be positive and stick to the game plan."