After signing a new one-year deal, Evans says he spent the break staying in shape and preparing for preseason.
He told MUTV: “I had a week before meeting up with the internationals and I played one international, against Spain.
“They’re a very good side. We scored too early, it was in the first minute! (Dan Ballard opened the scoring but Spain went on to win 5-1). So obviously, they’re a very good side and they got to the Euro final against England. So I was able to play in the national team and had a little bit of rest after. But you still have to keep yourself ticking over. I've been out doing a bit of running, as I’m sure most of the lads have been, to try to keep yourself injury free and ready for when we come back. It’s been good to be back in the last couple of days and to start building on the fitness.
“Yeah, I think, with experience, you know you’ve got to keep on top of it and there were probably periods when I was younger when you probably underestimated the importance of it. You’re then coming back in the pre-season and you’re playing catch-up. But there’s no room for error.
"Now you’ve got to be on it all the time, you know, in peak condition and making sure you’re still watching your diet, what you’re eating. So, when you do come back, you’re ready to hit the ground running. And the speed in the game now, I suppose squads are probably of a younger age composition and you’ve got to be able to keep up with the young lads now.
“I didn’t have a problem sort of switching off. I think it was after the cup final when there was that sort of buzz for the next couple of days, but I found it easy enough to sort of switch off and, like I said, it’s probably with a bit of experience that I am able to do that. Obviously, through holidays, the need to sort the kids out and, you know, just normal, normal things.
"But I think, even after two or three weeks, you start getting that itch again and you want to get back in and get doing something. You kind of want that buzz of playing matches again and that’s what it’s all about, you know, for us – football, as professional footballers. You want to do it all the time.”