Evans: Pre-season Is Vital

Jonny Evans says getting a good pre-season under your belt is vital for your base fitness for the whole season.

The defender was forced to watch from the sidelines last summer before the start of the campaign as he recovered from ankle surgery which meant a delay in him returning to peak fitness.

With no injury concerns this time round, Evans is looking forward to returning to work with the Reds this week as the champions begin their preparations to retain the title.

“Pre-season is tough and we are absolutely shattered after doing double training sessions, but that is the good thing about being away on tour, you can just concentrate on all of your gym work and the other things you need to do to get yourself ready for the new season,” he told ManUtd.com.

“I missed pre-season last year because of my operation and I took me a wee bit longer to get back to my best. When you come back from your summer holiday you need that transformation period of getting yourself back up to speed and that’s what pre-season does for you. If you miss it, it means you’re that little bit behind so it’s always a very important part of the year.”

David Moyes’ men will head on tour next week with five games in Asia and Australia during July and another scheduled in Sweden next month. Evans insists the tour matches always provide a good test and represent a big opportunity for some of the squad’s younger members to impress the manager.

“The tours are great for us in many ways because we get to see new things, do new things and experience different cultures, and also get our fitness for the season with the training that we do. And most of the games that we play end up being tough games,” he added.

“Since I have been involved in pre-season tours, the friendlies have always been hard. I came into the squad about four or five years ago and all the games were a massive challenge for me and that’s still the case for a lot of the younger lads. The more experienced players in the team know how to look after themselves and what they need to do, but the younger lads are always very determined to impress the manager.”