Manchester United defender Jonny Evans made an excellent start to his United career, but then performances dipped last term. And the £17million arrival of Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers provided serious doubts over the Northern Ireland international's future.
But Evans has responded to the challenge superbly, and the 24 year old is delighted with his form, and concedes the comments he made during a pre-season interview in Boston might have gone slightly too far.
"It was an honest opinion of myself, I guess.
"People thought I had a bad season but, in my mind, it was only a period of games in which I didn't play too well.
"One or two of those performances were highlighted by others but every player goes through that. It was up to me to find a way to get through it.
"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." "Maybe I was too honest," he said. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that.
