Hargreaves promises Man Utd more

Hargreaves missed the first game of the new season

Manchester United and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves has promised the club's fans there is more to come from him this season.

The 27-year-old told BBC Radio Manchester he has not reached full fitness since arriving at Old Trafford from Bayern Munich over a year ago.

"I don't think I played a game healthy last season. I was probably at 50 or 60% so there's more to come," he said.

He missed Sunday's 1-1 draw against Newcastle because of a knee injury.

Hargreaves also believes he will continue to develop as a player at United.

"I just think at this place I can improve and I don't think I've nearly fulfilled my potential yet," he stated.

"I'd like to be fit as soon as possible with the Manchester United games coming up and obviously the England qualifiers are big games for us.

"I'm working on my fitness every day doing as much as I can, training hard, and hopefully I'll be fit very, very soon."

The Canadian-born midfielder said he knows that being at United does not guarantee him a place in the England squad.

606: DEBATE When not injured he adds great energy and defensive solidity to the team but that's pretty rare Some_Random_Guy

"You need to play well, that's the most important thing. If you're not going to play well it doesn't matter where you play.

"The standards are very high here and with England and they were with Bayern Munich as well."

Hargreaves is aiming to be back in training this week and ready for Monday's Premier League game against Portsmouth.

He revealed: "I'm not going to set a timetable but I'm close, whether it's Portsmouth or the game after that, the most important thing is that I'm going to be fit for the rest of the season."