Lewis Moody will end a nine-month injury nightmare on Friday night, and he admits: “I am absolutely ready to go.”

The England flanker, who has not played since limping off during England’s RBS 6 Nations loss to Wales at Twickenham last February, is poised to make a long-awaited comeback when Leicester play their final EDF Energy Cup pool game against Welford Road visitors Sale Sharks.

The 30-year-old World Cup winner said: “As a rugby player, you just want to get out and play. I have come through all the rehab, and now I just want to play. I am absolutely ready to go.”

Leicester head coach Heyneke Meyer confirmed Moody’s appetite for battle after witnessing his trademark approach to training - an all-action style that helped coin him the nickname ‘Crazy Horse’.

Meyer said: “We need to show a lot of character with some of the international players away, but I am confident in the guys we have got. Let’s see how they go.

“Lewis has been working well, and he will start.

“He has been training hard, and we have had to tell him a few times to ease off.”

Liverpool will face a resurgent Tottenham on Saturday. A week ago, Spurs were adrift at the foot of the table and defender Jonathan Woodgate had described them as “rudderless” under the management of Juande Ramos.

But all that changed when Ramos was shown the door last Saturday night, with Redknapp quitting Portsmouth to take over. Since then, they have beaten Bolton at home for their first win of the season, and on Wednesday night they scored twice in the final minutes to snatch a 4-4 draw at arch-rivals Arsenal.

That will make them a much tougher proposition than they might have been for Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool, who are three points clear of Chelsea at the top after beating Redknapp’s old club Portsmouth 1-0 on Wednesday.

Saturday’s game will also mark the return to North London of Robbie Keane, whose £20 million switch to Liverpool in the summer was one of the two key deals that seemed to undermine the Ramos regime by ridding him of his main source of goals - the other being the sale of Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United.

If Liverpool slip up at the Lane, Chelsea will be looking to capitalise as they host Sunderland at Stamford Bridge.

Last weekend, Liverpool ended the Blues’ proud 86-match unbeaten league run at the Bridge, and Luiz Felipe Scolari will be eager to begin a new one to follow up their midweek victory at Hull.

Arsenal were stung by Spurs’ late equalisers at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, as it cost them not only North London pride but two valuable points as they bid to stay in touch with the leaders.

They go into Saturday’s trip to Stoke four points behind Liverpool, and will be eager to quiet Potters fans energised by Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Sunderland.

Hull’s fairytale season suffered a blip with the loss to Chelsea, and there could be another one this weekend as they face a daunting trip to face Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The winner will be get to overhaul fourth-placed Aston Villa, at least temporarily, as the Villains do not play until Monday night’s trip to Newcastle.

Like Spurs, the Magpies are in the process of recovering from a dire start to the season, and they moved out of the relegation zone with Tuesday night’s 2-0 win over West Brom.

While Tottenham have been grabbing all the headlines with their capture of Redknapp, it is Portsmouth who are left to pick up the pieces.

Redknapp’s former assistant Tony Adams has stepped into the breach but always faced a tough task at Liverpool on Wednesday night.

However, if he is to convince fans he can maintain standards at the club, he will be under pressure to win on Saturday as lowly Wigan visit Fratton Park.

On Sunday, inconsistent Manchester City visit local rivals Bolton.

The high-spending Blues have scored the most goals of any club in the Premier League this season, but find themselves in eighth place on the back of Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough.

Also this weekend, Everton host Fulham, Blackburn go to West Brom and West Ham travel to Middlesbrough.

Wednesday sees Hull begin a massive four days for them with manager Phil Brown looking forward to the challenge ahead.

The high-flying Tigers host Chelsea at the KC Stadium on Wednesday before travelling to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Saturday.

Many would expect this to be the week when Hull’s bubble bursts after an outstanding start to the season which has seen the promoted side rise to third in the Premier League.

But after four successive victories, three of them with clean sheets, Brown insists his side will not fear Chelsea.

Brown said: “It is a massive game for us because, one, it is the next one and, two, we have won four on the bounce.

“Confidence levels are sky high but what that manifests itself in is us looking forward to the game rather than being frightened.

“At the start of the season people would have been fearing this fixture but now all of a sudden we’re not, we’re looking forward to it.”

Last weekend’s 3-0 victory at West Brom has taken the Tigers’ points tally to 20 after nine games, just three behind leaders Liverpool and level with Chelsea.

Brown said after the game that he would be happy with 20 points from 10 games, a comment which was picked upon as meaning he had already written off the Chelsea game.

However, Brown claims he was merely trying to compartmentalise the season in saying he would have been happy with 20 points from the first 10 games and 20 from the second.

He said: “I haven’t written this game off, far from it. I’m really looking forward to it.

“We needed a good start, and we have had a great start. You can say that takes pressure off these games but I’m not going to say that.

“I think it puts pressure on because now people are expecting us to get something from a game against Chelsea.

“It is going to be a big test for me in terms of tactics and it is going to be a big test for us in terms of the physical and mental and ability side.

“We’ll be trying to make it as difficult as we can for their great players to play.

“It’s going to be a tough game but we’ll be ready for it, more so because of the fact we have got four results on the bounce.”

Hull have already beaten one of the Premier League’s ‘big four’ this season having won 2-1 at Arsenal last month.

Now Brown is hoping for another prized scalp.

He added: “I think there is a mentality that the top four are impregnable.

“But having gone to the Emirates and won, it’s given us hope that if we bring our best game to the table we might get something from the game.

“If you had a financial league table and put them up against us you would have to say we are overachieving at the moment, but I don’t see it as that.

“It feels as though it is part of the season’s work to do what we have been doing.

“They fully expect to play great football all the time and hopefully we will have a say in the matter.”

Chelsea last visited the KC Stadium in the Carling Cup 13 months ago and thrashed the then Championship side 4-0.

That was long before Hull put together the run which eventually culminated in their promotion and Brown warns his side are now a different proposition.

He said: “We gave a good account of ourselves for 35 minutes in the Carling Cup last year but then the quality in front of goal was the difference between the two teams.

“However, since those days we have come a long way. We have strengthened in a number of departments and in terms of the attitude and mentality of the players.”

Harry Redknapp is out to succeed where many previous Spurs managers have failed and close the gap on rivals Arsenal.

Spurs have not beaten their neighbours in a league match since 1999 and Arsene Wenger’s men have had bragging rights in north London despite going without a trophy for three years, particularly with Redknapp inheriting a team at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

Wenger’s cosmopolitan squad is in contrast to Redknapp’s plans of getting the best out of the England players at White Hart Lane.

“We’d like to,” said Redknapp, ahead of the clash at the Emirates Stadium. “If you can produce your own players, it’s fantastic, but finding them is a different matter.

“In the short term, when you are at the bottom of the league, you can’t really be thinking too much about two or three years down the line.

“Long term the goal is to get Tottenham up there challenging for a top-four position but the first goal is to make sure we stay in the Premier League.”

Redknapp no longer has thoughts of being England manager - but he wants his players to give Fabio Capello a selection headache.

Redknapp was among the candidates for the national job before Capello took the reigns and put the country on the road to the 2010 World Cup.

Spurs’ slump to the bottom of the table meant none of their players were in the matchday squads for the recent wins over Kazakhstan and Belarus - and their results led to Redknapp taking over from Juande Ramos.

“I’m just here now,” Redknapp said. “England have a got a fantastic manager anyway in Capello, whose record speaks for itself, and they are looking in good shape, which is great for us all.

“I have a big job on my hands at Tottenham and it is a big job, a great job.”

Jermaine Jenas was in Capello’s last 23-man squad but turning Spurs’ season around would put David Bentley, Jonathan Woodgate and Aaron Lennon back in the frame.

“If you look at David Bentley, four months ago he was David Beckham’s successor,” Redknapp said. “Now he’s had a little dicky spell and found himself out of the England team. We know what a player he is and we’ve got to get him playing like he was at Blackburn.

“We’ve got to do the same with some of the others. Jenas is an international player. We’ve got to get them back to what they should be.”

Redknapp also rates skipper Ledley King as an international player, while Tom Huddlestone has been in England squads and Darren Bent has been capped.

Alan Hansen feels Liverpool now have their “best chance” of winning the title for the first time since 1990.

The Reds ended Chelsea’s 86-match unbeaten home record with a 1-0 success at Stamford Bridge yesterday to put them clear at the top of the Premier League and further boost belief they can finally mount a sustained title challenge.

And Hansen believes they have shown they are equipped to push favourites Manchester United and Chelsea all the way.

“I would like to congratulate Rafa Benitez and his team for pulling off an incredible result at Stamford Bridge,” said Hansen.

“To beat a Chelsea side on their own patch where they’ve not lost in 86 League games is fantastic.

“It wasn’t just the result but also the manner of the win which was so impressive.

“After just half an hour there was only going to be one winner as the Liverpool tactics were spot on and the team display was outstanding.”

Hansen added: “After this great start to the season, this is the best chance Liverpool have had to win the title since they last won the trophy back in 1990 as they’re looking very much a team.

“They’ve shown great resilience in some remarkable comebacks, the signing of Albert Riera has given them great width and players such as Dirk Kuyt have performed far better than they have played before.

“Rafa’s team looks very solid and you get the feeling that when teams put pressure on them as Chelsea attempted to do, they’re not going to fall apart.

“They may have dropped points at home to Stoke but winning the title is not all about thrashing teams every week but how teams respond to setbacks.

“That’s the big test and from the Liverpool performances so far this season, the players have shown the kind of resilience that suggests they would bounce back from any poor result with great spirit,” the former Liverpool captain continued.

“This was a momentous result but the victory over Manchester United at Anfield is the result that gave Liverpool the real belief they could beat the likes of Chelsea. If Rafa’s team had lost that one, I don’t think they would have truly felt they could win at Stamford Bridge.

“However, by finally beating United they have become a team in every sense of the word as confidence and belief is sky high to launch a far too long-awaited title challenge.”

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has set Cristiano Ronaldo a revised target of 25 goals from his injury-hit season.

Ronaldo scooped what is expected to be the first of a series of individual honours when he was named FIFPro player of the year on Monday.

On the back of his 42 goals in United’s double-winning season it was hardly an unexpected choice, and as the man who persuaded Ronaldo to remain at Manchester United it was fitting Ferguson should hand over the prize.

But the Red Devils chief prefers to look forward rather than back, and while he

accepts there is no way Ronaldo could reach last season’s tally, feels it is perfectly possible for the 23-year-old to make another significant contribution.

“I still think he will beat 25,” Ferguson said. “It is going to be difficult because he has had a stop-start beginning to the season.

“He had the operation on his ankle so he has missed a few games and he is just getting his rhythm back.

“The number of goals he scored last year was absolutely phenomenal. You cannot describe it any other way.

“But I hope he can be equally as good this year in terms of his contribution to the team.”

Ferguson has seen Ronaldo’s startling progress at close quarters since he signed the raw teenager from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.

At the time, few had heard of Ronaldo, but the United players who had been so staggered at a pre-season performance in the Portuguese capital implored Ferguson to sign him.

It did not take long for the winger to make a far bigger audience sit up and take notice. His Premier League debut as a substitute against Bolton at Old Trafford was enough.

“We were struggling at the time but it ended up 4-0,” Ferguson added.

“The first thing he did, after winning a free-kick, was stand next to a team-mate, Mikael Silvestre I think it was, and demand the ball.

“It was as if he wanted to immediately let everyone know, ‘I am here’. That was him making his mark.

“At first we said that he wouldn’t play every week. We originally intended to play him every third week. It turned out that he took part more or less all season.

“We just felt we had something special.”

Ferguson highlights footwork and courage as Ronaldo’s major qualities. He has also had to develop a fairly thick skin following the controversy with Wayne Rooney at the World Cup two years ago and last summer’s transfer saga with Real Madrid.

“It’s in the past now,” said Ferguson. “It happened and you get on with life.”

Nevertheless, Ronaldo is now scrutinised in a way most men of his age would find stifling.

Only last week his lack of a goal celebration against Celtic was analysed and cited as evidence he would prefer to be in Spain.

“I don’t know if it bothers Cristiano but it doesn’t bother me,” said Ferguson.

“There is so much sensationalism today because of the pressure people are under to deliver headline stories. It is very difficult to get yourself annoyed about it.”

Amid the frenzied atmosphere of the Premier League, it is hard to imagine anyone actually enjoying a game or performance.

Yet Ferguson feels that way about Ronaldo. As the tricks have slowly given way to effective ways of beating opponents, so the 23-year-old’s talent has become more useful.

And, like most fans, Ferguson still gets a shudder of excitement when he sees the Portugal star take possession.

“I really enjoy watching him play,” said Ferguson. “It is fantastic.”