Shrewsbury Town defender Zak Whitbread has revealed that he grew up as a Manchester United.

The 31-year-old, who rose through the Liverpool youth ranks, will be facing his boyhood club in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday night and revealed that he was a mascot for a game against Chelsea on his birthday.

But he will not be thinking about that when the Red Devils travel to New Meadow to meet the League One outfit in the famous cup competition.

"I was still going to odd United game when I was at Liverpool," Whitbread told the Daily Mail.

"I remember the (Eric) Cantona dinked goal against Sunderland. He was my idol. When you see someone doing that as a kid, you think, 'That's the man'.

"I was lucky enough to be mascot for a game for my 10th birthday against Chelsea and that was special."