UNITED PLAYERS PREVIEW EVERTON MATCH
Manchester United face Everton in the Premier League tonight, kicking off at 20:00 BST with three vital Premier League points up for grabs. Here, you can read what two of Jose Mourinho's men have been saying ahead of the action…
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN
The midfield Armenian features on the cover of the official match programme, United Review, and is the subject of an exclusive five-page interview inside it.
Henrikh takes a moment during the Q&A to send his best wishes to Everton’s Seamus Coleman, who suffered a terrible leg fracture while playing for the Republic of Ireland in the recent international break.
“Yes, I have seen the injury to Coleman and I feel sorry for him,” Mkhitaryan explains. “I wish him a very quick recovery. It was a very bad injury and, when I saw the footage of it, I felt very bad about it. I want to support him and tell him to stay strong and to come back as swiftly as he can."
Expanding on the tackle that led to Coleman's long-term injury, Micki says: “It is not nice to see but also it is football. Danger is a part of the game and you have to be ready for it, of course not that kind of injury as it is pretty rare, but that is football. He could not have thought that something would happen like this. It was a battle between him and the opponent and he got a very bad injury.”
ASHLEY YOUNG
The versatile Reds star spoke to MUTV on Monday and was asked about the impending return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has now completed his three-match domestic ban.
“It will be nice to have him back,” Youngy said. “It will be tactically different to Marcus Rashford who runs in behind defenders. Ibra will do that as well but he is also the focal point. With his hold-up play, people will run off him and as long as we have people threatening in between then teams will drop off and that gives us more space to play. That is when we really start to play and move. You’ve seen the movement of the forward line is fantastic and unplayable at times. As long as everyone is at it then we will be fully ready when Everton come to Old Trafford.”
One man who won’t play at Old Trafford is Morgan Schneiderlin, the Frenchman who left United for Everton in January and is currently struggling with an injury. Despite that knock, Young is pleased that his former team-mate has made a bright start at Goodison Park. “Morgan is a fantastic player and these things happen in football, where things don’t work out, but he has gone to a great club and he has put his mark down already in the short time that he has been there,” Ashley said.
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