Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster has recalled being given the hairdryer treatment at Manchester United by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Foster's big breakthrough came in 2005 when he joined Manchester United from Stoke for £1m. He spent two seasons on loan at Watford before an injury to Edwin van der Sar at the start of the 2009-10 season promoted him to number one.

"I was second-choice goalkeeper so I got in the team and started off well, then I had a few shaky games," he said on the Peter Crouch Podcast. "The one game that did it for me was the Manchester derby which was 4-3 to United, where Michael Owen scored the winner in the last minute.

"I was all over the shop and I remember coming in at full-time and Sir Alex Ferguson absolutely nailed me. We had just won the game so everyone was buzzing but he shut everybody up to nail me in front of everyone. I was thinking, 'wow I don't need that'. He said 'you pull that stunt again that is you done'.

"Thankfully he kept me in the team and I was decent for a few games and then I dropped another clanger at home to Sunderland. Big Kenwyne Jones was so strong, he bullied me to the ball and scored a header. I was on the floor in a heap but again Patrice Evra scored a last-minute equaliser and I was buzzing again, thinking thank god for that. But no.

"We got in at full-time and Fergie went at me for two or three minutes saying 'you are finished, you are out and in the reserves, that is you done'. All the big boys including Cristiano Ronaldo were still in the dressing room at the time. That was me done, I was training with the reserves for the rest of the season."