Football
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Wigan boss Warren Joyce hopes insider knowledge helps vs. Man United

Warren Joyce is hoping his past does not come back to haunt him when Wigan take on Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

Joyce spent nearly a decade coaching United's reserves prior to joining the Latics in November and played a key role in developing players like Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard.

"I know a lot about the players,'' he said. "Even the older ones, I've had a lot of experience dealing with them and coaching them. There's an extra spice and banter that I don't want them proving how good of a player they are.''

Joyce built a fearsome reputation at Old Trafford for his training sessions and approach as he tried to harden his young players for the reality of first-team life.

He said: "I was trying to prepare lads to go past those top players. They weren't going to go past them because they had more ability, those top players were still humble people who knew their jobs and wanted to play and continue playing at the top.

"So young kids coming into that environment had to give something different. They only way that the kids could be different was they had to be hungrier, nastier, fitter. You had to create that environment where it was brutal. It was brutal for the older players when they came down as well.''

While Pogba had to leave Old Trafford for a first-team chance at Juventus, Rashford is the latest player to manage a direct breakthrough.

The 19-year-old is closing in on 50 appearances for the club and scored twice in United's FA Cup third-round win over Reading.

Joyce said: "I think it was a lot easier when he came through than some of the others. I'm not saying he's any worse or any better, but you've got to get an opportunity to show that.

"I could name dozens of players who never got an opportunity. We used to say to players, 'you might get one chance and you've got to be prepared for that one chance because you never know when it's coming, don't let anything be a shock.'

"You've got to be training that hard that you turn one game into five, five into 20, 20 into 100 and then your life changes. He's certainly lived by that motto.''

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