Sheffield United captain Jay McEveley is ready for a reunion with Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney for their FA Cup tie.

The pair played together at Everton.

The Blades captain said: “I played against him for a junior team. You could see back then. The keepers were only tiny and the goals were massive. He was just shooting from everywhere and scoring from 35 yards from when he was a kid.

“He took that onto the youth team at Everton and into the centre of excellence teams. He always played in our age group, a year up because I am a year older than him.

“He was something special. You could just tell, always scoring goals. If we were struggling in a game he would always pop up with a few goals.

“When I left for Blackburn that's when he really kicked on. He was 15 I think, and he started getting into the under-19s, the reserves, Youth Cup teams and stuff and the year after he was first team.

“He was head and shoulders above everyone and he really kicked on. And it was the right place for him to be at Everton at the time, bringing him through. They looked after him and brought him on brilliantly."