Evans 'fit' to face Poland
Manchester United defender Jonny Evans has said he was fit to face Poland on Saturday.
Wednesday, 02 September 2009
Evans has been troubled by an ankle problem and sat out the victory over Arsenal at the weekend.
Last month, he revealed he may need surgery to rectify the problem, but now says an operation is not immediate.
The Manchester United defender has been training with Northern Ireland since Tuesday.
Speaking to UTV, Evans said that manager Nigel Worthington has already laid out what he expects from the team on Saturday's match.
"I think everybody knows that hard work is the big thing, and that a bit of pain, running the extra sprint and an extra couple of yards is going to make a big difference on Saturday night."
"But no matter what the team is, everyone's got a responsibility to do a job, and no one player in the team thinks that everything lies on them."
Meanwhile, Chris Brunt has said he was hoping to make a full return to training at the end of this week.
The West Brom midfielder picked up a calf strain in the 2-0 win over Ipswich 11 days ago and is scheduled to sit out of Northern Ireland's qualifier on Saturday.
But the 24-year-old is looking to be back in full swing by the time next Wednesday's qualifying clash against Slovakia comes around.
He told Wes Brom's website:
"I trained a little bit on Tuesday and hopefully by the end of the week I will be back in full training.
"It would be nice to be fit for Northern Ireland next Wednesday because these are the two biggest games we've had for a long time.
"We've got a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup and I wouldn't want to miss out on both games."
Northern Ireland leave on Thursday to finalise their preparations for the match.
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