Phil Jones Injury: Updates on Manchester United Star's Shins and Return

Phil Jones was suffering from shin splints this season, but has returned for Manchester United.

Continue for updates.

Sunday, Dec. 14

Jones Returns vs. Liverpool

Manchester United announced Jones is starting today:

Thursday, Dec. 11

Jones Targets Boxing Day Return

According to Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News, Jones is targeting Newcastle for his comeback match:

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Phil Jones is targeting a Christmas return to the Manchester United first-team after he began training again this week.

[...] Louis van Gaal prefers players to complete a two-week training schedule before they are considered for the first-team, so the earliest Jones could feature is against Newcastle United on Boxing Day.

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Tuesday, Nov. 18

Jones Tipped for Return at Arsenal

Louis van Gaal is hopeful of a major boost from Jones ahead of Saturday's trip to Arsenal, per Mark Ogden of the Telegraph:

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Although the loss of Dutch midfielder Daley Blind to a knee ligament injuryfor an estimated 4-6 weeks will force Van Gaal to re-shuffle his midfield, the United manager is confident of being able to add Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Radamel Falcao to the suspension-free Chris Smalling to his squad for the game at the Emirates.

[...] With Evans, Jones and Falcao all remaining at the Aon Training Centre during the international break in order to focus on their rehabilitation, all three are in contention to be named in the squad against Arsenal.

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Wednesday, Nov. 12

Jones Problem Remains Severe

Jamie Jackson of The Guardian provides a statement from Louis van Gaal discussing Phil Jones' potential return for Manchester United:

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Falcao has a calf injury, Evans a foot problem, Da Silva a muscular complaint, and Jones is recovering from a shin problem. All the issues are severe enough that they might not even make the bench for the game on 22 November at the Emirates.

Asked if any of the quartet might return, Van Gaal said: 'No, I don’t think so because now some of them have already not played for five, six, seven weeks. They could sit on the bench because they can play 20 minutes but I cannot put a lot of players who are not 100% fit on the bench. You saw what happened with [Paddy] McNair [getting cramp against Crystal Palace] because the rhythm of the game is very high in the Premier League.'

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Friday, Nov. 7

Van Gaal Rules Jones Out of Palace Match

Phil Jones remains absent as Manchester United prepare to host Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Louis van Gaal confirmed, via United's official Twitter:

Sunday, Nov. 2

Jones Still Sidelined

Manchester United confirm Phil Jones is not fit to play today:

Sunday, Oct. 26

Jones Shin Splints Revealed

Phil Jones didn't make the trip to Old Trafford for Manchester United's Sunday fixture against Chelsea, and Louis van Gaal revealed in his post-match presser the centre-back is suffering from shin splints.  

As shared by the club's official Twitter feed, the Red Devils' boss couldn't put a timetable on Jones' return:

The 22-year-old has only started four Premier League fixtures this season due to a myriad of minor injuries, as shared by WhoScored.com. In fact, the entire United back four has dealt with numerous problems, as explained by Manchester Evening News' Rob Dawson:

The duo of Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo did a solid job against Chelsea's vaunted attack, although the entire defence looked completely out of position when Didier Drogba opened the scoring on a corner.

Radamel Falcao also missed Sunday fixture after taking a kick in training, prompting this tweet from Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst:

Jones' latest injury likely means Smalling and Rojo will remain the preferred central duo for now, barring yet another injury to any of the remaining centre-backs.