Phil Jones: I see the light at the end of the tunnel now

Manchester United defender Phil Jones is more than relieved to be back on the training pitch with his teammates. The English centre-back, who has been struggling with recurrent injuries in the recent seasons, is now nearing a full recovery. He endured a difficult period on the sidelines with injuries, the most serious of which has been a long-term knee problem. Jones made the decision to fix the issue with an operation last summer and is now close to a full recovery. Hence, he has recently been able to return to first-team sessions at Carrington. The defender sat down with UTD Podcast co-hosts Helen Evans and Sam Homewood to discuss the injury process.

“I’m feeling good at the minute,” he said during a forthcoming episode of the official club podcast. “Obviously, I’ve been through hell and back over the last couple of years. I struggled with my knee a little bit and [there] came a point after lockdown where I thought enough was enough. “I kept myself in great shape over lockdown and came back. But I remember just training out here [Carrington] and going into the doc and saying ‘enough’s enough’. Unfortunately, there was going to be time off the pitch, which I knew was going to be difficult for me, but it was something that I had to do.

“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.”

‘That’s the lowest I probably ever felt in my life’

Jones has recently been able to gain some matchday experience, despite the fact that it has been 20 months since his last competitive outing for United. He featured in friendlies – against Burnley and Stoke City – before playing his first 90 minutes since the operation in the Under-23s’ trip to Arsenal last weekend. He clocked up another full game on Saturday, as the Reds beat Brighton 2-1 in Premier League 2.

“[It’s been] tough. I think as a footballer, as a person, as a human being, that’s the lowest I probably ever felt in my life,” he said. “You try and get a balance between football and family life but it was so difficult going home and trying to look after the kids. You’re there, but you’re not there, you’re not present. It’s nice to get that balance back.

“I think at first, I’ll be brutally honest, I found it really tough to watch football, just in general because you can’t do anything about it. You’re stuck, you’re off your feet. Coming into the training ground every day, it’s hard to get going because you’re going to be out for so long and I knew that getting the operation. But thankfully, I have a good team around me, family, friends, and I got through it.”