Southgate Backs His Staff Over Phil Jones Injury

England manager Gareth Southgate has said he has 'every trust' in his medical team and says they made 'the right call' over Phil Jones, despite Jose Mourinho's protests to the contrary.

The Manchester United defender received pain-killing injections to play in a friendly against Germany on 10 November before limping off during the first half at Wembley. He has missed United's last four games with a thigh problem.

Mourinho said last week that Jones had been playing with a slight strain that United's staff had been managing, but the 25-year-old was then given six jabs by England's doctors.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the draw for the 2018 World Cup, Southgate said: "We have got ongoing dialogue over this situation - it is a complex one and we want to make sure we get these things right.

"Equally, I have every trust in our medical team that they make the right calls. They are very experienced people and this is an unfortunate situation and we hope Phil is back playing as soon as he can be."

Southgate stressed that he did not want to jeopardize the relationship between St George's Park and United, a team he calls "our most supportive club".

He said: "I have massive empathy with Jose.

"As a manager, you don't want to lose players to injury. For me, as the national coach, that's the worst scenario when a player goes back to his club and is not able to play.

"Manchester United are incredibly supportive of everything we do. Sometimes people suggest that is not the case but they are arguably our most supportive club. We are very conscious of our relationship with them."

Credit: Skysports.com