Manchester United v Middlesbrough: Matt Crooks dreaming of FA Cup upset on Old Trafford return

Dreaming of that was something the Leeds-born Red Devils fan with family from Ashton did a lot as a child, and when his club released him as a 14-year-old – three years after first trying – it reduced him to tears. He even developed an irrational dislike of Nissan Micras.

Now, though, he will finally get the chance to play at the stadium he used to watch from, in an FA Cup fourth-round tie on primetime Friday night terrestrial television. No wonder he is excited.

“I’m just hoping I play,” says the former Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United midfielder.

“You never know until you get the teamsheet.

“It will definitely be the biggest game of my career so far, by a long stretch.

“I’ve not spoken to anyone else about the team, but I’ve been speaking to myself about it. I was laid in bed at about three o’clock thinking, ‘I hope I play.’”

For Chris Wilder not to select Crooks, such an influential part of the team’s revival since the team came under his management in November, would be cruel. But football is not a charity, and Crooks knows he cannot let his excitement run away with him.

“We’ve had season tickets in the family for 40 years,” he explains.

“Growing up as a United fan (Cristiano) Ronaldo was one of my favourite players. So to have the chance to go up against him will be the biggest, ‘What’s going on here?’ moment.”

Crooks joined the Manchester United academy as an eight-year-old and was in the same age group as Boro team-mate Duncan Watmore and Derby County captain Tom Lawrence.
“I remember when they released me being sat in the room with my dad crying my eyes out,” he recalls. “I kind of knew it was coming as I was walking up the steps.

“We went to the Trafford Centre after and my dad had just got a new Nissan Micra so I hate that car. They actually tried to release me twice – once when I was 11 and I asked if I could stay on and train with them and they said yes. I did well enough that they kept me.

“For the next two or three years (after being released) at Huddersfield I used it as motivation to try and get a professional contract. I went back with Huddersfield when I was 16, we beat them 2-0 and I scored. I’d take that again.

“I want to be excited but I don’t want to hype it up too much and not focus on the match at hand. I’ve got to be ambitious to put on a performance to try and win the game. As much as I am looking forward to it, I don’t want to be overawed by the situation.”

For all the romance of the Cup, Boro’s priority this season is promotion, and Crooks is no different. After all, as he says, then “I can play against Man United twice instead of once.”

The FA Cup has never made much impression on Crooks as a player.

“I don’t think there’s any real standouts, which is sad,” he says of the games he has played in.

When reminded he played at Everton for Rotherham 13 months ago he replies: “I don’t know why that didn’t come to mind. It was a big game at a good Premier League ground but we lost, there were no fans in, so it just isn’t the same is it?”

Tonight will be a special occasion. FA Cup rules mean Boro were able to take 9,500 tickets, and very quickly did. Those supporters have unsurprisingly taken quickly to Crooks, with one of their favourite songs containing the line: “Crooksy’s hair is fine, He scores belters all the time”.

“My barber’s buzzing with that song!” he smiles. “It’s not just my song, but it’s great and I’d love to hear it during celebrations at Old Trafford at full-time like I visualised last night.

“The last compliment I had about my hair some geezer messaged me when I played for Accrington and asked what conditioner I use.

“This time we have just under 10,000 (fans) but we’re still going onto their patch so we can’t expect they’re going to give us anything easily. We’ve got to have that kind of ‘us against the world’ mentality and see how we do.”

As well as not wanting to let the fans down, Crooks does not want to face a beaten Wilder again having only recently come through the first major setback of his managership, defeat at Blackburn Rovers.

“He didn’t take kindly to it,” says Crooks. “He gave us a brushing down. It was probably more about the manner of our performance in the first half.

“He’s driving us on to be better players, a better team. Sometimes you need these setbacks to make you realise you need to work even harder and that’s what we’ve done.

“Honesty’s always the best policy. It’s the best way to deal with it.

“You don’t want to go to Old Trafford and have an absolute stinker, you want to enjoy it, give it your all and play well. Hopefully we can do that.”

Last six games: Manchester United WWDWLW; Middlesbrough WLWWWW
Referee: M Donohue (Greater Manchester)

Last time: Manchester United 2 Middlesbrough 1, December 31, 2016, Premier League.