Sir Alex Ferguson: Nemanja Vidic "is a warrior"

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has praised the battling qualities of his captain Nemanja Vidic.

The Serbian defender returned as a second-half substitute during United's 3-1 win over Sunderland this afternoon for only his fifth match of the year because of a knee injury.

"He is a warrior and a captain who has always battled for you. He sticks his head on the ball in that penalty box and he's great at that," Ferguson told MUTV.

Vidic's defensive colleague Chris Smalling also hailed the return of his skipper.

"It's brilliant to see him back. He's been training really well and we've got real strength in numbers now because we've been a bit stretched, particularly in defence. It's good to see him back," the young English centre-back added.

Vidic joined the Red Devils in 2006 from Russian side Spartak Moscow.