Evans confident of bouncing back from cup exit
Jonny Evans believes that Manchester United are more than capable of recovering from their latest setback against Liverpool.
The 2-1 defeat at Anfield saw the Premier League champions dumped out of the FA Cup, with the Red Devils also exiting the Champions League before the last 16 stage.
However, United have responded well to defeats in the recent past. Sir Alex Ferguson's side bounced back from the 6-1 loss to Manchester City at Old Trafford in October by winning their next three games without conceding a goal.
And after the devastating defeat at Basel that saw them crash out of the Champions League, United triumphed in their next four league games with an aggregate score of 16-1.
Evans fully expects the Old Trafford giants to get back to winning ways against Stoke City on Tuesday evening.
"We’ve responded really well after the two disappointing moments of the season; the 6-1 defeat against City and then the losses against Blackburn and Newcastle around the turn of the year," the Northern Irishman told the Manchester Evening News.
"We went on a great run after the City game and then after New Year we've beaten both City and Arsenal away. That's what this team does.
"Every player at this club knows what’s expected. When you're at Manchester United you know defeats like that aren't acceptable. We don’t need anybody else to tell us that. We know it deep down.
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"We’ve played really well against Stoke in the last few games, both at home and away.
"I think we've dealt particularly well with their long throw-ins. There isn't much of a run-up at Old Trafford on the side of the pitch, which probably helps.
"We've beaten them comfortably over the last few seasons but they're improving all the time and nobody ever looks forward to playing against Stoke. They have a different approach to the way most teams play."
Victory for United could see them move level on points with City if the leaders slip up at Everton.
By Phil Haigh
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.