Former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce has praised Jonny Evans for his performances in the absence of Nemanja Vidic.

Evans has been forced to fill the void left by Vidic following the centre-back's season-ending injury in December.

"Of course, they have missed Vidic but Jonny Evans has now played over 20 league games and has very quietly done extremely well," Bruce told Yahoo!.

"He's only 23, he's played in big games and has handled himself brilliantly.

"Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have got all the headlines because they've had a meteoric rise, but I think Jonny Evans has done particularly well in filling the gap left by Vidic."

Evans is expected to feature for United when they travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday.