"Ji-sung had an excellent 45 minutes, which was enough for him. He is a great player to get back because his versatility and movement off the ball is something we will use over the Christmas period.
"It gives me the option to rest our wider players Ryan and Cristiano in various games, because he can play both sides. Kieran Richardson had a good game as well; a full game that he probably needed."
Alan Smith also played in that game, but his return is a little further off as he continues with his special schedule of training.
"Alan has made a slight improvement each week in the last three weeks and his reserve performance on Thursday was his best performance so far but he is still a bit short," said Sir Alex.
"He will keep on doing the work he has been doing, and he is using his left foot far more than he did three weeks ago."