Coloccini will start tomorrow night’s third-round Capital One Cup tie at Old Trafford.
The Newcastle United captain has been out for more than three weeks, having suffered a hamstring problem while on international duty.
Newcastle allowed Coloccini to stay in Argentina for treatment, and he believes that decision has hastened his return from the injury.
Alan Pardew: “He has been with his national team medics.
“He’s stayed in the warmth, which is obviously better for a hamstring, and he’s worked with the Argentina national team.
“They’re focused on the injury, as it was done with them. I was happy for them to do that.
“I’m really pleased how he has come back – he’s ahead of schedule.
“Sometimes, when you get injured, you have to do what’s right for the individual player, and it looks like we got that right with Colo.
“I know him, and he’s fine. He’s trained and he’ll come back stronger.
“We’ll be strong on Wednesday.
“There’ll be three or four players that I will need to rest for Reading, for sure.
“But all the teams in this competition will be the same. There are just too many games for players to play in every single one.
“Having said that, Colo and Cheik will play, and we’ll have a nice balance to our team, and we are going to try to win the game.
“After Christmas, we’ll look at what our priorities are.
“At this stage, we’ll just try to win every game.”