Evans, Fletcher continue comebacks

New signing Alexander Buttner also featured at Moss Rose, making his first appearance for the club since his transfer from Vitesse Arnhem.

Evans returned to action in central defence after spending the northern summer recovering after an ankle operation.

The Northern Ireland international has not played for the Red Devils since the last game of last term but was an unused substitute in last weekend's 3-2 Premier League win over Fulham and has set his sights on this weekend's trip to Southampton for a first-team recall.

Evans told MUTV: "People always say it's important to get a good pre-season under your belt. If you miss it, it can affect your season, so I've just been trying as hard as I can, doing all the fitness work I can. It's my first game but I've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

"I think that's why it was important for me to get these games. I might have only played 60 minutes, but with it being 90 it gets me the full game behind me and hopefully I'll be in contention for Sunday.

"I felt pretty good. I've had a few setbacks over pre-season where it's not gone as planned. Hopefully now everything's behind me and I can kick on with the season now."

Evans liked what he saw of Buttner, who was signed to provide cover for Patrice Evra at left-back.

"He's been training all week with us and I've been very impressed," the 24-year-old said. "He seems very confident on the ball, good in the tackle.

"He probably didn't get as much of the ball as he would have liked. But he defended really well, which is important, and I'm sure he can be happy with himself."

Fletcher also came through unscathed in his third game since being diagnosed with a chronic inflammatory bowel condition last November.

Federico Macheda scored both goals for the host, the second a penalty, with Ryan Mason's spot-kick scant consolation for Spurs.