Cambridge United captain Tom Champion says they can walk tall after their FA Cup draw with Manchester United on Friday.
Champion has climbed through the ranks of non-League football.
"I definitely came the hard way," said 28-year-old. "Thinking back to the days when I worked in an office nine-to-five is surreal. We can take a lot of pride from getting the club here, doing ourselves justice.
"We knew the longer it stayed 0-0, the more frustrated they'd get. In the second half, we knew we'd be without the ball for much longer periods. We had to defend well.
"When you see the firepower they ended up with - Van Persie, Falcao, Di Maria - the boys can be proud and there's a big reward to come up at Old Trafford."
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