Jones should be fit for World Cup: Giggs

United interim manager confident England defender will recover in time.

MANCHESTER:

England defender Phil Jones will definitely overcome a shoulder injury in time for the World Cup, according to Manchester United interim manager Ryan Giggs on Friday.

“Phil’s injury is not as bad as I thought on the night,” said Giggs, who is in charge of United for the final time against Southampton on Sunday.

“He’s obviously out for Sunday but should be fit for the World Cup.”

Jones, 22, suffered the injury in United’s 3-1 win over Hull in midweek and there were concerns that he had suffered a shoulder dislocation and would not be fit to go to Brazil.

England manager Roy Hodgson is set to name a provisional 30-man squad on Monday and Giggs said that another United player, Wayne Rooney, who has missed the last two games with a groin problem, will be available.

“Rooney has just started training over the last couple of days,” he said. “Sunday probably will be a little bit too quick for him to recover, but he’ll train and be fine for the World Cup.”

‘Everyone is anticipating an announcement’

Giggs is expecting the news of Holland coach Louis van Gaal’s appearance as the new manager. Van Gaal is the odds-on favourite to be David Moyes’ permanent replacement, with reports suggesting an appointment will be made next week.

“Everyone is anticipating an announcement,” he said. “It’s been a difficult season for us and when the management situation gets sorted out then we can move on and that will probably be in the next couple of weeks.”

Giggs, whose future at United remains unclear, has been in charge for the final four matches of the season and says the spell has whetted his appetite to work as a manager. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2014.

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