Cup Tonic Quenches Owen

Michael Owen admitted United were under pressure prior to a comfortable Carling Cup victory over Aldershot Town.

Not for the age-old reason – Goliath going away to face a David with nothing to lose – but because the Reds, albeit a different XI, had suffered a demoralising defeat just two days earlier.

“There was a little bit of pressure after the City result,” said Owen, after scoring in the Reds’ 3-0 win. “Although no-one [in tonight’s team] started at the weekend, we still had the Manchester United reputation to look after in many ways. No matter what side we put out tonight, we wanted to bounce back and thankfully we got the win.”

Owen wasn’t named in the Reds’ 18 for the Manchester derby, but the collective pain – and desire to recover after shipping six goals to City – was shared throughout the squad.

“As you can imagine really, the usual laughs and jokes at training quietened down a little bit after Sunday and it focused our minds. Sometimes you need a kick in the teeth to get up and going again and to concentrate on the basics. It was a big kick in the teeth and we were eager to bounce back.

“We played some good stuff in the first half. It was quite similar to the last tie at Leeds as again we went 3-0 up and then took our foot off the gas a little bit. It was a bit more even in the second half, and, to their credit, Aldershot never let their heads drop. We're thankful we're through to the next round of the Carling Cup. Roll on Everton [in the league] now.”