Ian Wright is hoping that Phil Jones has a good game on his long-awaited return to the Manchester United team.
United are aiming to make up more ground on Wright's former club, Arsenal, in the race for Champions League qualification against Wolves on Monday but Ralf Rangnick has a severe lack of options in defence.
With Harry Maguire injured, Victor Lindelof unavailable after not training in the week following a positive Covid-19 test and Eric Bailly away with Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations, the interim boss has had to turn to Jones.
The 29-year-old has endured an incredibly difficult two years as a series of injuries have kept him sidelined and derailed his career.
Yet, months of hard work has seen Jones fully recover from his injuries and now he has made his first appearance for the club since an FA Cup tie against Tranmere Rovers on January 26, 2020, a game he actually scored in.
After enduring such hardship over the last two years, Wright is delighted to see Jones back and is hoping he can play well against Wolves.
"It's an unbelievable night for Phil Jones," the Gunners great said. "It's very easy for people to look at him and see the last time he played, I'm hoping he has a good game and gets himself to a point where people can take him seriously, because he is a serious footballer.
"You're just hoping he can have a decent game after what he's been through in the last couple of years. He's got a lot of stick and he's still in there fighting."
The United faithful showed Jones great support in the early stages of the match as they loudly cheered his name and enthusiastically applauded when he headed an early cross away.
Rangnick explained prior to kick-off why he selected him.
"From what I’ve seen so far he was extremely professional all the time, even when he was not in the squad, since last night our two other centre backs are out, he was the logical choice," Rangnick told MUTV.
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