We must put things right against Aston Villa: Manchester United's Phil Jones

Phil Jones

Sky Sports reports that Phil Jones has labelled Manchester United’s game at Aston Villa as ‘massive’ in the wake of two consecutive defeats at Old Trafford.

United went down to single goal defeats against Everton and Newcastle in a matter of days, as they suffered back-to-back defeats at home for the first time in forty years, leaving United 13 points behind leaders Arsenal and only one point closer to the top of the table than they are to the bottom.

With the reigning Premier League champions having returned to winning ways against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, focus returns to domestic matters as United look to improve on the ninth-placed position they find themselves in ahead of the weekend.

Jones feels that the game will be crucial to boost confidence among the Red Devils’ ranks heading into the busy festive period, with Villa Park having proved something of a happy hunting ground for them in the past.

The United defender said, “We need to put things right in the league and that starts on Sunday.

“We need to get three points and go on a run. We’ve said this before, but it is time we kicked on.

“We’ve had a couple of disappointing weeks, but hopefully now we can start picking up some points.”

United will need to bounce back against a Villa side smarting from their own defeat at Fulham last weekend, if they are to close the gap on Arsenal at the top and bridge the seven point gap that separates them from fourth-placed Manchester City.

Only Michael Carrick (40) has performed more interceptions for Manchester United than Phil Jones (25) in the Premier League.