This archive report was first published on 20 September 2021.
Manchester United defender Phil Jones has been out of action since January 2020 due to a knee injury, which was operated on last summer.
Speaking to the Times, Jones fired back at former teammate Rio Ferdinand, who claimed he was taking up a youth player's position in the Man United squad.
“Listen, the respect I’ve got is enormous. I’ve shared a dressing room with Rio, great professional. Loved playing with him. Great lad, good humour. Learnt so much off him. But what he said was poor. Really poor. I’m not into disputes, not into arguments, and if he didn’t know, he didn’t know,” said Jones.
Jones has been working hard to recover from his injury and has returned to first-team training. He hopes to make a full return to competitive football on the pitch.
“Thankfully, I see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and I’ve been back training, played a few behind-closed-doors games and I’m feeling really good at the minute. It’s so good to be back out training with the lads and enjoying being a footballer again because for the last 15 months, it’s been all ‘daddy daycare’ and not much football,” said Jones.
Jones has featured for the Under 23’s against Burnley and Stoke City and played a full 90 minutes away to Arsenal. On Saturday, he played another full game against Brighton in Premier League 2 at Leigh Sports Village. The team won 2-1.
