Manchester United’s injury problems worsened after the recent 2-1 win over Southampton.
Defender Chris Smalling, who has already missed matches due to injury problems this season, had to go off following a minor concern. Jones, who has also been missing the last few matches, had to come on after just 18 minutes. The 26-year-old has stated that the stop and start season for the players seems to continue. Hence, they are mentally prepared to come on at any stage during the match. Even though United secured a victory, it was not very convincing as they were lucky to see Southampton being wasteful with their chances.
Manager Louis Van Gaal admitted after the match that United were lucky to get the victory, which turned out to be the fifth consecutive for the Red Devils. This has propelled them to within five points of its rivals Manchester City. Since the Premier League is yet to reach the halfway stage, there are plenty of matches still left. This has increased talk of a title bid from United, which seemed highly unlikely only a few months ago. Van Gaal, though, will be more concerned about the quality of football. The injury to Smalling was the 43rd different issue that United players have suffered this season.
“The way the injury situation has been, you are always expecting someone to get injured.So I had to prepare myself mentally for that,” said Johnny Evans. “Jones is coming back but not fit to play. He needs training sessions and maybe also matches in the second team. But he is coming back. He is fit to train. That is also very good. We are seeing already light in the tunnel,” said Van Gaal about the current injury status. United face crunch match against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.
