Injury-riddled midfielder Vince Grella returned to the Blackburn Rovers' first team with a full 90 minutes in last night's scoreless draw against Manchester United.

The Australian international has had an interrupted season and there were fears for him earlier in the week when he limped out of a reserve team match with a sore knee.

But it was only a knock and he recovered to put in a full shift as Sam Allardyce's men grabbed a handy point against the reigning champions at Ewood Park.

Grella's Socceroos teammate Brett Emerton was replaced at half-time by David Dunn whilst New Zealand and Rovers skipper Ryan Nelsen made his comeback from a few weeks out with a knee injury by coming on for Christopher Samba just after the half-hour mark.