Jones: We Miss The Champions League Massively

With a return ticket to the Continent now tantalisingly close for Manchester United, Phil Jones admits it's been hard to watch the Champions League during the club's year-long absence from it.

The centre-back played in the Reds' last European fixture on 9 April 2014 - the quarter-final second-leg defeat away to Bayern Munich - and while the German club are this week striving to reach this year's final, Jones and his team-mates have been frustrated spectators all season long after finishing outside the top four in 2013/14.

Hence the players' determination to complete the mission that was all but accomplished in the Barclays Premier League at the weekend, when United opened up a six-point and 14-goal advantage over fifth-placed Liverpool with two games apiece left to play.

"We’ve missed it massively," admitted Jones, when asked about Europe's top competition after Saturday's win at Crystal Palace.

"There’s nothing like a European night when the Champions League music comes on. But to have been sitting there and watching it this season, without being a part of it, has been disappointing.

"A team like Manchester United should be in the competition but we’ve no given right to be there, we need to perform. Performances like this [at Palace], when you’re probably not at your best but you still come away with three points, can be the ones which make sure you get into the Champions League."

Only an astonishing set of scorelines stands between United and a final place in the top four, but Jones wants the job to be done comfortably and properly with positive results at home to Arsenal this Sunday and then away to Hull a week later.

“We’ll look forward to it," said Jones when the conversation moved on to the Gunners match.

"It’s a game that everyone wants to play in, it’s a big game and we want to win it. We want to finish the season on a high and as strongly as possible. Hopefully we can finish with two more wins.”