Robert Green enjoyed an afternoon to remember when West Ham United came away from Old Trafford with all three points last season and is looking forward to the same again.
The goalkeeper has played against the champions five times in his career, been on the winning side four times and only conceded three goals. When speaking in an extended press conference, available exclusively via WHUTV, he naturally saw no reason why that form cannot continue this weekend. "It is hopefully going to be a more pleasant experience to start off with for ourselves as we haven't got so much riding on it," he said. "We can go there and play football and hopefully give them a real challenge and a few things to think about."
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That is not to say that the 28-year-old expects it to be easy and he acknowledged that the Champions League finalists will be determined for the first of two wins from their final two fixtures to make sure of the domestic title. "It is going to be a tough," he said simply, before also explaining that he was well aware of the "quandary" facing the travelling faithful who will be eager for a West Ham United win but also aware that could well pave the way for old London rivals Chelsea to win the title.
Green, who said he does not expect to be involved in the two England friendlies later this month and in early June, was his usual unassuming self when asked to explain why he and the club in general have traditionally done so well against Sir Alex Ferguson's teams. "I don't know what the secret is ... don't play them too often is one thing! The guys have just had a great record. They have probably looked at the fixture and thought on paper it is not the toughest game in the world but I would imagine they would probably rather be playing somebody else. It is a game that we are looking forward to massively."
Ludek Miklosko has had a word about his heroics in preventing United win the title back in 1995 - "every time we come to play Manchester United he mentions it" - and Green is determined to match the feat of a goalkeeping coach who in all seriousness he described as a "very modest man". He said: "On Saturday we will be doing everything we can to throw a spanner in the works. It is one of them difficult ones where people will expect you just to roll over and get beat but we are going to go there and we have got our own agenda. We are going to make it as hard as possible."
Green has already spoken about his hopes for next season after the positive progress to date and he reiterated that this campaign "has been a massive step in the right direction" before adding "next season could be an exciting one". When asked about signing a new contract, he added: "I have got long enough not to worry about it". Reflecting in general on 2007/08, he said: "It has been a lot steadier ship over the course of the season and there has been some tremendous performances. You look at the strength of the squad and we are a match for anyone outside the top four."