Powell earns praise

Manchester United youngster Nick Powell scored his third European goal of the season for Wigan Athletic on Thursday, netting the equalizer in a gutsy 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan at the DW Stadium. 

The 19-year-old converted from 20 yards after 39 minutes of the Europa League match, cancelling out Aleksandr Prudnikov's clinical opener.

 A cagey match followed, though Marc Antoine Fortune did miss a chance to seal a famous win in added time. The draw leaves the Latics second in Group D with five points from three matches, a promising total for last season’s FA Cup winners.

 Three of those points were inspired by Powell’s two-goal brace during a 3-1 win over MK Maribor last time out. Speaking afterwards, manager Owen Coyle was full of praise for his loan star and expressed his opinion that he could break into United’s first team upon his return to Old Trafford at the end of the 2013/14 season.

 “After the season with us he will be good enough to go back and challenge (for a place at United),” Coyle told reporters.

“He still has a lot to improve on and he will tell you that but he has ability. He is such a talented lad and I just want to get the best out of him.

 “I'm giving him a platform and a wee bit of wisdom from my own playing days but he has to push himself on and you could see from his performance he is doing that. All I can do is try and impart any knowledge and experience I have as a player and a striker.

Evra clarifies quotes on future

Patrice Evra has clarified speculation regarding his future by stressing he loves Manchester United and does not want to leave the club.

 Following a recent interview in his homeland with Telefoot, the French defender was said to be preparing to quit Old Trafford when his contract expires next summer.

However, in an exclusive chat with MUTV's Countdown to Kick-off, to be screened this evening, the loyal servant made his true feelings clear.

 "The problem with me is I don't read the papers so I don't know what people are saying about me," he stressed. "I had a French interview and I said:

'It's personal' meaning 'I don't want to talk about it'. "Maybe some people [outside] want me to leave the club but that's not the case.

I will answer if somebody wants to talk about my contract because I think it ends after this year but then they have to talk with Manchester United and my agent. Me? I love this club so much."

 "The only thing I can say is it [the French interview] was a big misunderstanding." Evra captained the team to Champions League victory against Real Sociedad in midweek, taking over the armband for the second time since David Moyes was appointed manager.

Van Persie should face Stoke

David Moyes says Robin van Persie should feature during Manchester United’s Barclays Premier League meeting with Stoke City at Old Trafford on Saturday.

 The Dutchman was omitted from Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, allowing him to rest a couple of niggling injuries that were sustained earlier in the season. As a result, the manager is confident of recalling the talismanic striker against the Potters.

 However, the boss does not expect to field Danny Welbeck or Tom Cleverley, who are still struggling with injuries. "Robin has a good chance.

He's had problems with his toes and a little bit with his groin as well, but I think he should be OK. He’s had a little bit of training as well. Everybody’s improving and the only one who’s a doubt at the moment is Danny Welbeck, who has some fluid on his knee.

Tom Cleverley is still recovering from his calf but overall we're pretty strong." When quizzed on the fitness of Marouane Fellaini, who is currently wearing a protective bandage on a wrist injury, Moyes expanded:

 "It's never easy when you have an injury that needs something doing to it. People who play football will tell you you use your hands and arms quite a lot for balance and pushing off, so it can be awkward when you’ve got an injury. But he is fine, he’s getting used to it now and hopefully he can play even in the condition he’s in."

Kagawa wants more playing time at United

Shinji Kagawa has suggested to manager David Moyes that he needs more playing time whilst he is at Manchester United.

Kagawa is not happy to have only feature in four of United’s eleven matches so far this season and because of that he thinks his lack of playing time has blunted his match sharpness.

 Kagawa has played two matches for Japan during this international break against Serbia and Belarus, in which Japan lost both matches, but the Japanese playmaker said he felt better after playing the matches for his country and he hoped Moyes would pick him for more games, especially as United play four matches during the next two weeks.

Kagawa told the Japanese press: “Personally, I felt strongly after these two matches that I need to play more and, as a team, there are many things we need to do.

 “So we all need to go back to our European or J-League clubs and take what we learned in these two matches and work to fix those problems.

 “There’s a matter of fitness and there’s also that atmosphere of playing for my country. “It’s different from the atmosphere at United, but you still get a good feel for being on the pitch when you play regularly. “Maybe it’s because I’m not used to being on the pitch of late, but I didn’t feel like I was able to enter these two games properly.

During tough times like these I have to improve myself.”

Jones: Let's build on win

Phil Jones hopes Manchester United can embark on a run of wins after Wednesday night’s 1-0 Champions League victory over Real Sociedad.

 United have won back-to-back games only once so far this season – against Crystal Palace and Bayer Leverkusen last month. And that’s something Jones is keen to change, stating the Reds’ intent to build on the win over the Basque outfit, which followed Saturday’s frustrating draw against Southampton.

 "It was important to get back to winning ways," Jones told MUTV. “We want to build on this and get back to where we need to be in the league.

 "We’ll keep working hard. Hopefully this is the start of a good run now." Jones believes United’s players showed their battling qualities to see out the game against La Real, even if he felt his team should have wrapped up the game earlier, following Inigo Martinez’s second-minute own goal.

 "We got the exact start we wanted but didn’t quite get that second goal, which probably would have killed the game off," said the 21-year-old, who played again at centre-back. "We probably could have won by five or six but I thought we were really resilient throughout the team and showed some character towards the end to see the game out."