Your first team opportunities have been limited so far this season. Has it been frustrating not to be involved on a regular basis?
Obviously it’s frustrating, but you’ve just got to accept it. There’s so many good players here, you just have to hopefully get your chance in the Worthington Cup or something like that. Hopefully I can have a good game in that and maybe catch the manager’s eye.
You were quoted as saying recently you may be forced to move if you don't break into the first team, how do you feel now?
I’m still the same. I’m 22 in November, and I want to play football. I love Manchester United – I’ve been here since I was fifteen, but I also love football and I want to play football. If I can’t get it here then I’ll have to look somewhere else.
Have you set yourself a target of games you want to play this season?
Not really. It’s not about targets, I just want to play regular football and at the moment it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting it here. But football’s a strange game, things change suddenly and you never know what will happen. All it takes is an injury, and as John O’Shea has proved if you play well you can keep your place. He’s shown all us other young ones how it can be done.
Do you think you are still learning as a player, and which areas of your game are you most keen to improve?
I don’t think you ever stop learning as a player, especially at a club like United where you’ve got 25 great players to watch and learn from. You can pick up things from world class players all the time. I think I’ve got to improve my crossing, and learn when to dribble and when not to dribble.
You made your debut against Aston Villa in the League Cup, how was that? Talk us through your memories….
That was the first game for a few of us – John O’Shea made his debut I think, people like Danny Higginbotham and John Curtis were playing, David Healy came on. It was a strange experience. It was great to play for United but we fielded a weakened team and we lost 3-0 in the end. We did OK, but were disappointed not to do better.
Was it difficult, if not impossible, to play against an experienced Premiership side when you had a team made up mainly of teenagers?
I wouldn’t say impossible because we had a lot of talented players in our team, but experience showed in the end. We had a few chances – we could have taken the lead, and we could have equalised at one point. But they were stronger physically and mentally than us in the end.
You were on Arsenal's books when you were younger, who did you play alongside there?
I was in the same youth team as Ashley Cole and Stuart Taylor, they’re the two from my year who have come through the ranks. Matthew Upson was around, too. But Cole was the main one. He was a left winger when I was there, and he was a lot smaller then. He’s grown a lot since then, and he’s an England international now. He’s done brilliantly.
When and why did you decide to move to United?
United watched me play for my school team one summer, and invited me to go to Ireland with them. I went, loved it and made a lot of friends in the week and enjoyed it more than Arsenal. It’s just a friendlier club, and a better place to be for a youngster. I was happy at Arsenal, but when United, who I’d always supported, came in then there was no decision to make.
Which current world player do you most admire and why?
I’d probably say Ronaldo. He was always one of my favourite players, but the way he came back from that serious injury to become the top scorer at the World Cup was incredible. And he scored within a minute of his Real Madrid debut too!
You were sent off against Liverpool at Old Trafford, what did the manager say to you after?
He just said "unlucky". It was a strange situation, we were 1-0 down and everyone was pushing forward. I probably should have been further back than I was, but I got close to Smicer. Everyone else was upfield and I had to chase back and I ended up pulling him down.
What was going though your mind as you brought him down?
I’ve no idea! I seemed to be running as fast as I could but I wasn’t going anywhere. We got to the edge of the area and we had hold of each other and suddenly he went down.
Were you down after that game?
No, it didn’t really affect me at all. The only disappointing thing was that I missed the New Years Day game against West Ham at Old Trafford, which the manager said I might have played in. But everyone was really supportive and I got through it fine.