Sir Alex Ferguson will be concerned with the fitness of Jonny Evans, after the Northern Ireland defender revealed he felt pain five minutes into his comeback in Friday’s 2-0 defeat by Russia. ESPN reports
Manchester United are already desperately short of defensive options, with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling already on the treatment table, causing Michael Carrick to move into the centre-back position for the defeat against Everton.
“I was disappointed I felt pain so quickly in the game but, if I am being honest, I always expected I would feel a little pain, just not that early. After a couple of painkillers, it did feel a bit better and if anything I felt stronger as the game went on, but I had a heavier strapping on then”, Evans said.
Evans looks set to start in tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg, but manager Michael O’Neill insists he will not take any risks with the Manchester United defender’s, following his recovery from an ankle injury.
“We have no major concerns over Jonny but we just have to manage him.”If there was any risk, we wouldn’t take that risk and neither would Jonny”, he said.
Even if Evans comes through the match unscathed, Ferguson will still only have three fit central defenders at his disposal.
