Buchanan takes away some great memories - and Wayne Rooney's shirt

David Buchanan took away a host of great memories as well as Wayne Rooney's shirt from Wednesday night's EFL Cup tie between the Cobblers and Manchester United - but his focus has already switched to claiming victory in Saturday's Sky Bet League One clash with Southend United at Sixfields.
Wayne Rooney captained Manchester United against the Cobblers, and handed Dave Buchanan his shirt at the end of the gameWayne Rooney captained Manchester United against the Cobblers, and handed Dave Buchanan his shirt at the end of the game
Wayne Rooney captained Manchester United against the Cobblers, and handed Dave Buchanan his shirt at the end of the game

The Cobblers skipper is a lifelong United supporter, and he turned in a typically robust performance in the 3-1 loss to Jose Mourinho’s men on one of the biggest nights of his career.

He enjoyed a real tussle with former England winger Ashley Young for most of the night, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and United captain Rooney, who Buchanan admits he idolises.

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The Town man was quick to get hold of Rooney on the final whistle and the United skipper was pleased to hand over his no.10 shirt, which is a great souvenir for Buchanan to treasure.

In the end it was a night of disappointment for the Cobblers, but Buchanan felt he and his team-mates did at least rattle their illustrious visitors.

“I think United controlled it for most of the game, but I felt when we got our goal we could have got another one before half-time,” said the 30-year-old.

“I thought we really took over for the last 10 minutes of the first half.

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“We said at half-time that they are going to come out hard, Jose Mourinho is obviously going to get stuck into them, and we felt the longer we could keep it level that they, especially with the run they have been on, are going to feel the pressure.”

As it turned out, United regained their composure and won it with a 68th-minute strike from Ander Herrera and another seven minutes later that was gifted to Marcus Rashford by Town goalkeeper Adam Smith.

Smith had a night to forget as his first-half error, when he picked up a Matt Taylor backpass, also led to Michael Carrick’s opener, but Buchanan says that will all be quickly forgotten.

“We all know what happened with the goals, but now we stick together and move on and concentrate on the league now,” said the former Preston North End man.

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“We think we have got a good squad, we are a tight-knit group on and off the pitch and it is important now we bounce back.

“Wednesday night was a brilliant game for us to play in, but the bread and butter is the league.”