Manchester United may be relieved to learn of a smart decision taken regarding a key squad player by his international manager.
Injuries at international tournaments are unfortunate. Injuries in international friendly games are a lot harder to stomach.
Manchester United centre-back Jonny Evans is not being risked any more. Northern Ireland have made the decision to excuse him from their final international game of the season.
The Northern Irish FA have confirmed the veteran defender is going to get a well-earned break.
Jonny Evans latest
Jonny Evans played in Northern Ireland’s recent fixture, a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Euro 2024 bound Spain.
This was his first game since the FA Cup Final, in which he helped Manchester United to close out the game against City to win 2-1.
Northern Ireland are due to play Andorra in another friendly, but Jonny Evans has not travelled with the team.
The Northern Irish FA said it would have been ‘unrealistic’ to expect Evans to play another game so soon, after such a tough season, with injury issues cited.
Per the press release: “Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said Evans had some injury niggles during the regular season and he felt it was unrealistic to expect him to play another match after he was on the pitch for 90-plus minutes against Spain in Palma on Saturday.”
Evans has flown home from where Northern Ireland were based in Spain, instead of flying onto Andoraa with the rest of the squad, with his 2023/24 season now over.
Jonny Evans games played in 2023/24
Jonny Evans has had a very busy 2023/24, playing games at the top level, asked to do more for Manchester United than anybody imagined when he began training with the team last summer.
Evans, now 36, was offered a contract on deadline day, having impressed manager Erik ten Hag during pre-season.
An injury crisis led to Evans playing a busy role, and his games at international level have added to the demands.
Evans played 30 games for Manchester United in 2023/24, and he has played an additional five games for Northern Ireland too.
Injury issues have caused him to miss time, and he hurried back to help United late in the campaign. Now he is getting a well-earned rest, before deciding what the future holds.