Former Macclesfield Town trainee Max Lonsdale has spoken of how he managed to earn a trial at Manchester United.

Lonsdale approached Sir Alex Ferguson directly armed with a DVD of himself and was able to convince the United manager to give him a chance.

"I told him I really believed I could play at the highest level and he asked me about my style of play, how old I was and whether I had any history of injuries. I said I was a left-footed midfield player who liked being on the ball, passing it around and taking people on," he told the Daily Mail.

"It was clear he was a bit taken aback by the whole thing. You could just tell from his facial expression no-one had ever knocked on his door before and asked for a chance but, to be fair, he took a genuine interest and said he would look at the dvd."

But driving home, Lonsdale felt he had blown his big chance.

"I had been nervous and fluffed some of my lines and I just thought nothing would come of it, then the following Tuesday I got a call from Warren Joyce, telling me to be at the training ground at Carrington on Friday for a meeting and look round."