Former Man Utd defender Jonny Evans hung up his boots at the end of last season and he is now a first-team coach.

Jonny Evans has admitted it felt “a little bit strange” to coach Manchester United’s squad just months after playing alongside them. Evans announced the end of his playing career last summer.

In 2023, the defender returned to Manchester to spend two seasons at the club where he had become a professional. Evans played with most of the current United squad during that stint, winning the FA Cup, but he is now part of Michael Carrick’s backroom staff as a first-team coach.

Following his retirement from playing, Evans took up the position of head of loans and pathways at Carrington, but the role was not a good fit and he stepped back in December.

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Evans returned to United a month later to help Darren Fletcher during his caretaker manager stint. Carrick subsequently retained him on his coaching staff when he was appointed interim head coach.

“It’s been really good,” Evans told MUTV. “Obviously I’ve known Michael a long time, and it’s been really easy to come in with Steve and Woody and Trav, [who has] obviously worked with the Under-21s.

“The club’s like my home almost, so day to day just feels natural for me. On the coaching side of it, I just feel like I’m learning every day.

“Your mind’s thinking in different ways. I’ve really enjoyed it and hopefully I can continue that on and learn more towards the end of the season.”

Reflecting on the transition, he said: “The first couple of days felt a little bit strange, I can’t lie. I’ve got, for example, big Harry [Maguire], he’s my centre-back partner and I’ve played with him for two different clubs, and all of a sudden that’s flipped now and I’m now coaching him.

“We would have talked about the game in the past and I suppose you can still make it a bit of a conversation and a discussion, but there’s lads like Shawy and that. He was 19 when he signed here the first time and I was already playing in the first team, so little dynamics like that.

“Obviously now I’m trying to put sessions on for them, so it probably took me a week or two to adjust but after that you just feel it flowing.”

Evans spoke at Carton House, where United trained to prepare for the run-in. The trip was organised during a break of 24 days between games in the Premier League.

“We probably feel similar to fans, in a way,” he said. “Everyone loves that stimulus of a matchday and how the adrenaline gets up, so when you haven’t got that for a while, it can be quite difficult to keep the training going and keep the ideas flowing.

“Especially for the players, keeping their minds active, but that’s why I said before we gave them a few days off after internationals and then hopefully now we’ve got a little run, almost looking towards the end of the season.

“We’ve got little blocks of games and you can break it down into two and three games at a time, leading up to the end of the season.”

With seven games remaining in the season, United are third in the Premier League. Give English teams will qualify for next season’s Champions League and there is currently a seven-point gap between United and sixth-placed Chelsea.