Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that the Central defender Jonny Evans is likely to miss the start of the new season after he has not sufficiently recovered from an injury.

The defender was a casualty in the 4-4 draw with Everton last season. He broke his foot and was not expected to return prior to the start of this new season. However, the manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that it may take much longer than initially anticipated after the defender has not made a great deal of progress in his efforts to return to first-team action.

Manchester United, though, are likely to welcome Nemanja Vidic back from long-term injuries. There was initially fears that the illustrious career of the 31-year-old could be cut short as a result of this major injury. However, Ferguson has revealed that he is making substantial progress to be fit in time for the start of the new season. Manchester United will be making a difficult away trip to Everton on the opening day of the season. It has been a fixture that has been not rewarding in terms of points for Manchester United in the last few seasons, but Everton have been traditionally poor starters.

“Jonny had the op, but I’m not sure that he’ll be ready to start the season. Fortunately, though, I don’t think he’ll be far away. I’m confident that Nemanja Vidic will start the season, I’m sure of that. He’s a bit behind the rest of the players in terms of the competitive element of his condition, so he’s far better back at Carrington to work on that. Chris Smalling has done a bit of training. He had a ruptured groin and has had a lot of attention in that area,” said Ferguson ahead of the first pre-season match.