United boss Simon Grayson has admitted there was never any chance of Jermaine Beckford returning for the Easter weekend - but he had no intention of making the news public.

In keeping with a stance he laid out on when he arrived, the manager keeps his cards close to his chest regarding injuries and potential return dates, and was keen to keep Beckford's fitness under wraps.

"There was never any question that Jermaine would be fit for the games last weekend, but it wasn't something we were going to shout about," confirmed the manager. 

"He has a thigh injury, and now he's not a million miles away from being fit.

"We hope he will be back for next week, but as I've said before we'd rather miss him for a couple of weeks than more than that so we will see how things go before the weekend."

Sam Sodje was the surprise return at Leicester in place of Rui Marques, who had picked up a slight injury, but Luciano Becchio's presence was the biggest surprise.

The striker was expected to miss out after picking up an injury against Stockport, and even the manager admitted he was surprised by his swift return to action.

"He was like Lazarus," said the boss. "He came from nowhere.

"He was struggling Saturday night, but on Sunday morning he came in, he felt fine and said he wanted to play.

"We have a few tired bodies and minds, and we have a few who wouldn't have played against Leicester, but we have a few days now before Tranmere."