After what had probably seemed ages to Sir Alex Ferguson, his defensive problem is solved to some extent. With Rio Ferdinand still injured, Jonny Evans is back and might return to first-team action at Southampton. The North Ireland International was a substitute when United played against Fulham as he was recovering from an ankle operation. He played for Under-21s when they took on Tottenham at Moss Lane winning 2-1.
Warren Joyce gave Evans a chance to play for ninety minutes to test his fitness and the centre back assured that he was playing in his usual form.
“It’s important for me to get that run-out,” Evans told MUTV. “I was only going to play 60 minutes but ended up playing the full game as Warren let me know before the game. I’m glad I’ve got 90 minutes under my belt.
“I’d never really experienced missing pre-season before. People always say it’s important to get a good pre-season under your belt and, if you miss it, it affects your season so I’ve been trying as hard as I can with the fitness work and a lot of work behind the scenes.
“It was important for me to get this game and instead of only playing 60 minutes, 90 minutes gives me a full game behind me and hopefully I’ll be in contention for Sunday.
“I felt pretty good. I’ve had a few setbacks over the pre-season where it’s not gone as planned but, hopefully, everything is now behind me and I can kick on with the season.”
Joyce was happy to see Evans play as his team won his second match of the season.
“It’s great to see him back and he’s come through unscathed,” Joyce told MUTV. “He’s done it properly and got tackles and headers in, moved the ball around and looked good.”
Evans would take place with Nemanja Vidic as Michael Carrick will move forward to the midfield.
Compiled by: Rida Mehtab
Comments are closed.