England's 0-0 friendly draw with Germany last week created a headache for Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho ahead of his meeting with Rafa Benitz and Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.
Phil Jones was forced off having aggravated a thigh injury, and the details regarding how it came about suggest that some strange decisions were made. Jones reported an issue with his thigh in the warmup having had a pain-killing injection earlier in the day and he was then given five more injections of local anaesthetic so that he could start the match, despite it being a meaningless friendly.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Mourinho made it very clear that he was not happy with the handling of his player as he ruled him out of contention for the visit of Newcastle.
For me, the more strange thing with Phil Jones is that in 17 years as a manager, I don't have one single player that had injections of anaesthetic to play a friendly. Never.
I'm not an angel. I've had players injected to play official matches and crucial matches, but a friendly? To get six local anaesthetic injections to play a friendly? I never heard about it. Phil Jones had it and had before the match. After 50 minutes he was out and obviously tomorrow he is out.
It really does seem unnecessary given the importance - or lack thereof - of the game, but it is not clear whether or not this decision was ultimately made by the player or the medical staff.
While Jones is out, Mourinho will be able to call on Marcos Rojo for the first time this season as he - along with Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - is fit to come in and provide an option as we near the busy Christmas period.
