When Nemanja Vidic got injured in December it should have ended United’s title hopes. The fact that United have the best defensive record in the league this season, conceding just five more goals than City, speaks volumes about the way he has played with Rio Ferdinand.

Evans has expressed his delight at his improving form and acknowledges maybe he shouldn’t have been so honest at the start of the season.

“Maybe I was too honest and shouldn’t have said that,” he told the official website. “But that was an honest opinion of myself, I guess. Every player goes through that. It was up to me to find a way to get through it. It was a challenge for me and everybody needs to be challenged. You either rise to it or you don’t, and if you don’t then you don’t deserve to be at a club like Manchester United. Those are the sorts of challenges everybody here faces – when that happens it’s up to you to try and raise your game and get back into the team.”

“Of course, they have missed Vidic but Jonny Evans has now played over 20 league games and has very quietly done extremely well,” he said. “He’s only 23, he’s played in big games and has handled himself brilliantly. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have got all the headlines because they’ve had a meteoric rise, but I think Jonny Evans has done particularly well in filling the gap left by Vidic. It’s also important that Rio Ferdinand has come back and just given them that stability. I think defenders get better with age. Even though you might lose that half-yard of pace it gets easier. The art of defending lies in your concentration levels, and that is something which gets easier with age. It’s particularly important at United, where you are constantly on the attack and you need to stay switched on even when you might not have too much to do.”

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Word got back to the manager and the players were ordered to do extra training on Wednesday, which was their day off. The three players then did extra training this morning when the rest of the squad were preparing for today’s game against Blackburn.

Rooney was seen watching the game from the stands and the players have apparently been fined.

“Before the game I was delighted to be given the armband, but I’d happily take that away to have the victory instead,” he said. “It’s good that the manager plays the younger lads, but unfortunately we’ve not managed to get the result. My first game was in the Carling Cup and it didn’t turn out as well as we expected, but the lads have got to keep focused and work hard on their games.”

In more recent times, whilst the likes of Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea have had long stints in the first team following poor form, the likes of Kieran Richardson and Phil Bardsley weren’t so lucky.

Evans has today spoken about how he had to have a change in attitude to make sure that he wasn’t another former youth team player who had to leave the club.

“If you look back over the years a lot of youngsters have come into the team and had a good season or two, then taken a little dip,” Evans said. “Sometimes you do think you are immune from it and maybe I took my eye off the ball a little bit. Maybe I relaxed a bit too much and thought it was going to come as easily as the previous two seasons. All of a sudden it hits you. You just have to regroup and have a word with yourself.”

He’s been playing well this season though, competing with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling for the central defensive positions when Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have been out with injury.

“I feel more assured now,” he said. “When you go through a stage of not playing well, there is a bit of pressure. Sometimes you can feel the crowd are getting on your back. In the end it was a case of ‘stuff it, what have I got to lose’. The thing in my favour was that I have never been one to shirk a challenge. Whenever things are tough, I always feel as though I can respond and not hide away. Now I go out there and relax, play my football and go home.”

“It is weird,” he said. “It is hard to believe Phil Jones is only 19. Chris Smalling is 21. David de Gea is 20. We have the Da Silva brothers. The average age against Tottenham was 23. I was just over on months. It has given the young players an incentive to step up to the mark. You cannot be a kid anymore and sit back and let things happen. You have to stamp your authority on the team.”

However, after a couple of seasons in the first team squad, filling in whenever Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic were unable to play, Evans endured a stinker of a season last year. Too many times he was at fault for opposition goals and really seemed to struggle in the air against most opponents.

Evans has acknowledged this poor form and claimed that he has worked hard to put it right.

“Of the three seasons since I came back from Sunderland, the last one was my most difficult,” he said. “I didn’t hit the form I wanted. I went away and thought maybe I have another year, if I had another season like that I am sure the manager wouldn’t want me around. I wasn’t playing consistently to a good enough standard for Manchester United so I have gone back to basics and worked hard.”

Whilst Evans was confident the club wouldn’t sell him after one bad season, the departures of Wes Brown and John O’Shea made him realise nobody was safe.

“The manager never said anything to me and I never went to see him,” he continued. “I was pretty confident the manager wouldn’t get rid of me. I have always thought he has a bit of faith in me. Maybe you do have the odd doubt but I thought it would have been unfair if I had left, considering the two seasons I had before. Last year wasn’t a total disaster. There were times when I did feel good and others where I felt I needed that level of consistency every week. I was on holiday when I heard John and Wes were in talks with Sunderland and would be leaving. It did make me think there was room but no matter who the manager gets rid of, or signs, there are so many players who can step into so many different positions it is crazy. If you are not in his plans he will move you on. If you are here you have a great chance of being involved.”

“I am not superstitious at all,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. I got a phone call one day and they said the manager wanted to know if I wanted the number six shirt. I said: ‘Why not?’ It’s more of a defender’s number than 23 and looks a bit nicer. Tom Cleverley’s got 23 now and I’m sure he’ll take good care of it. But I am sure the manager doesn’t really think about stuff like that – and I don’t either. I don’t have anything like that going on in my head.”

“I have always thought that being at a club like Manchester United, if you can’t accept a challenge of someone wanting your spot, you don’t deserve to be here,” he said. “That is what Manchester United is all about. You are constantly being tested. It is down to you, whether you are good enough, or whether you are putting the effort in to play for the first team.”