Phil Jones has vowed to take more care of himself during matches to avoid further injuries and the Manchester United defender has revealed that he does yoga and Pilates to try to achieve maximum fitness.

Jones was pressed in to playing in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford, due to the injury Marcos Rojo picked up in training the day before. Jones, however, was not 100% match fit following the spell of shin splints that had ruled him out since the 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion in October.

Since joining United Jones has suffered 19 different injuries or illnesses. Two of these occurred this term, the other being a pulled hamstring that occurred when he was on England duty in September.

“Hopefully I can stay fit, look after myself in games and make sure I stay fit,” Jones said. “I started pre-season and played every single game and every single training session. Then on international duty [in September], I pulled my hamstring and I have never had a muscle injury in my life so it was disappointing. When I was coming back I then had shin splints.

“I didn’t go into training and say I wanted to get injured that morning, it is just the way it has been. It has been unfortunate. I have been doing a lot of work in the gym and hopefully that will stand me in good stead for the rest of the season.

Jones also outlined his full regime. “It is strength work on the reformer, yoga and Pilates and loads of stuff. I will do anything I can to improve myself. I could stand here and list 10 players who are always out injured – that is just the nature of football. People don’t wake up one morning and say: ‘I fancy being injured today’. It is just the way it is. My aim right now is to stay fit and stay focused and get a run of games under my belt.”

When asked about starting against Liverpool, Jones said: “The first 20 minutes were a bit of a whirlwind for me, to be honest. It happened so quick. I don’t think any training session can get you ready for a game in the Premier League never mind playing against Liverpool. But it was great to be back out, the lads did brilliantly again and it was great to get the three points.

“You could say that I was [surprised to play]. But injuries and circumstance happen and that is football. I was more than ready for the game, you have always got to be ready and I enjoyed playing. We owed them from one last season as well.”

United are only eight points behind league leaders Chelsea, having won their last six matches. “We are improving, we know that we are not firing on all cylinders yet and sometimes in possession we give the ball away a bit,” said Jones. “But we are learning and we will keep improving game by game. If we can keep doing that then we will be a very good side.”