Jonny Evans revealed after the draw at Aston Villa that manager Erik ten Hag had informed him of his inclusion in the line-up after Thursday's six-goal thriller at FC Porto.
In truth, anyone who witnessed the Northern Irishman at Boavista's Estadio do Bessa on Friday, would have been left without any doubt that he was readying himself for the task of stifling the cock-a-hoop Midlanders.
It appeared obvious that the centre-back was working meticulously on his preparation. I lost count of the number of times he dropped to do press-ups. You sometimes only see this with some football training sessions as some kind of forfeit or punishment but this was purely self motivated, probably a way of forcing extra exertion.