Jones: The Fans Spurred Us On

Phil Jones praised the Manchester United fans after the Reds came from a goal behind to take a point from Sunday’s Premier League game with Liverpool at Old Trafford.

United trailed with as little as six minutes remaining, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed in a deserved equaliser to inspire a frantic finale in which both teams pushed for a winning goal.

Jones felt the supporters played a key role in helping United fight back. “The fans spurred us on,” he told MUTV. “You could hear them throughout the game, even when we were 1-0 down they were terrific. They helped us get that equaliser, the place erupted when Ibra scored, it absolutely erupted.”

Jones also acknowledged United changed the style of play as the game wore on in pursuit of an equalising goal. “The manager said that in the first half we played too much into their hands. You could see in the second half we went a little bit more direct and they struggled to deal with it, especially with Ibra up top.

“Straight away from when the second half whistle went it must have been like a basketball match to watch. They attacked, we attacked, and it continued like that for the 45 minutes. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t score the goal early enough to put them under a bit more pressure to get the second that we wanted.”

The English defender confessed that he didn’t think United were at their best on Sunday, but commended the team for getting a draw in trying circumstances. “I don’t think we played well today, but when you don’t play well and you don’t lose it’s a massive bonus. The lads have shown fantastic character, fantastic spirit, it’s difficult especially when we didn’t play so well in the first half to come out and get that equaliser, and if we’d had a bit more time who knows we might have got the winner.”

On the Reds' chances of reaching the top four, Jones said there is a long way to go. "We have to keep plodding away, Stoke next week, hopefully win that and the same against Hull in a difficult second leg and get through to the final. There’s a lot to play for, a lot of points to play for so let’s just wait and see."

Having recently returned from a lengthy period of injury, Jones was happy to be back playing in big games for the Reds. “This is what being a Man United player is all about, playing in games like these, and hopefully we can put in a better performance next week and get the three points against Stoke.”