Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag gives verdict on Jonny Evans performance vs Lyon

Erik ten Hag praised Jonny Evans as a "leader" after the 35-year-old made his return to Manchester United colours with a 45-minute run-out in the friendly win against Lyon.

Evans is back at the club eight years after his Old Trafford departure, having signed a short-term deal to cover pre-season to offer more depth to Ten Hag's squad.

The Northern Ireland international is a free agent after leaving Leicester City and he was training at Carrington to maintain his fitness last week, before Ten Hag drafted him into the squad.

He played the second half against Lyon at Murrayfield, producing an assured performance against the Ligue 1 side and one which got the seal of approval from Ten Hag.

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“You can see he’s a really fine character, he’s a leader, he understands football. It was nice to see him playing and he really contributes to the performance of the team in the second half," he said.

Donny van de Beek got the only goal of the game early in the second half and Ten Hag was pleased with the experience of Evans, Van de Beek and Fred after the break.

“I think it was a good mix between experience and young players," said Ten Hag. "Donny with experience, Fred a lot of experience, Jonny Evans even more experience, with that in the middle of the park then you see young lads can improve their game because they get coached."

While the United squad now fly to New York to begin their pre-season tour, with a game against Arsenal at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday, Evans will head to San Diego to train with the academy squad before playing against Wrexham next week.

“Internationals started training the last couple of days, today they had a session, now we come