‘Exceptional’ - Ralf Rangnick & Luke Shaw praise Phil Jones after comeback appearance

Ralf Rangnick and Luke Shaw praised Phil Jones after the defender made his comeback appearance for Manchester United in the 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.

The Red Devils started the new year in a forlorn manner, with an abject performance against the Midlands club at Old Trafford.

The encounter was settled by Joao Moutinho’s 82nd-minute strike, handing the visitors a much-deserved three points.

However, one United man who can be pleased with his night’s work is Phil Jones, with the 29-year-old playing his first senior match for the Red Devils in nearly two years.

With Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly unavailable, Rangnick turned to the out-of-practice Jones for the visit of Wolves, and the No.4 put in a solid performance alongside Raphael Varane at the heart of defence.

Jones last played for the Red Devils in a 6-0 FA Cup win over Tranmere Rovers in January 2020, but dealt effectively with the threat of Raul Jimenez up front on Monday.

“I think he did well, bearing in mind he hadn’t played for two years at that level,” Rangnick said in his post-match press conference.

“You didn’t see that in the game. He played as if he’d played in the last couple of weeks and months. It was definitely not a problem of Phil Jones that we were unable to have full control of the game and win the game at the end.”

Another man who was full of praise for the defender was Shaw, who was delighted to see his long-time team-mate back in the side after a difficult two years with injury and social media criticism.

“One thing I will say is Phil Jones should be proud of himself,” the left-back told Sky Sports. “He has been criticised for years, and has gone through a lot, but he is so professional and he has trained hard and he was phenomenal. He was exceptional.”