We must win our game. We cannot rely on PSV’s result

‘As a club, a team and a player, you have to prove yourself that you can continue. That’s why it is important to beat Wolfsburg. We have to be independent of the result of PSV Eindhoven.’

Schweinsteiger’s return was overshadowed by news of his FA charge after he appeared to thrust a forearm into Reid’s face on Saturday at a corner.

The Germany captain has until noon on Thursday to respond but he is now in danger of missing United’s forthcoming Premier League games against Bournemouth, Norwich and Stoke.

Questions to Schweinsteiger over the charge were blocked at last night’s press conference at the Volkswagen Arena, but the former Bayern Munich star is confident United will get the job done against a Wolfsburg team whose 29-match unbeaten home run in the Bundesliga was shattered by Borussia Dortmund at the weekend.

Referring to United’s comeback win over Wolfsburg at Old Trafford in September, Schweinsteiger said: ‘We know the situation of the scoreboard. We know we need a good result here. We have to think about our performance and how we can beat Wolfsburg. We did it in Manchester and we want to do it again here in Germany.

‘It’s not so easy here as at Old Trafford. It’s a big challenge but I’m convinced we will play a good game.

‘In every match, we create good chances to score goals. It’s a mix of everything, the last pass, the build-up pass, a little bit of luck. We need to be really determined to score a goal.

‘It’s just this small thing and I’m convinced we can change this — hopefully tomorrow evening. When we enter the pitch, we want to win the match and score goals.’

As Schweinsteiger and van Gaal well know, United’s survival in this season’s Champions League now depends on it.