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Man Utd conqueror is best friends with Rashford and came through the academy

  /  autty

A lot of talk has been about the heroics of Christy Pym but there was another Grimsby Town hero with connections to the Manchester United side they shocked on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup second round.

The League Two outfit deservedly beat the Premier League giants 12-11 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in normal time - which included them taking a two-nil lead.

And to rub salt in United's wounds, the man who scored the Mariners' second goal - as well as their ninth penalty in the shootout - came through their own academy and is close friends with Marcus Rashford.

Tyrell Warren was released by the Red Devils in 2019 after 14 years but his bonds with former team-mates is still evident judging by his holiday snaps with Rashford over the years.

That included this summer with the duo flying out together and even taking part in some training sessions to get fit ahead of this new campaign.

Talking about his friendship with Rashford, Warren detailed to the Manchester Evening News their bond from their academy days to now.

'There were obviously a few of us at the time, all the same ages, all from Manchester, from the same area in Manchester, playing for the same local teams in that area and district.

'So it was easy to get on with each other and get to know each other.

'He (Rashford)'s been to a few of my games with the rest of my mates and it's interesting to see he'll still come and watch with his mates.

'He's not forgotten about friendship and it's all about friendship.'

Warren caught the eye of Jose Mourinho during his tenure in the Old Trafford hotseat and was part of his first training squad back in July 2016.

The right back was 17 at the time and yet to make his first start for the Under 21s.

'It was mad, to be fair, it was crazy. I didn't really expect it. I came back from summer and (academy head) Nicky Butt said I was with the first team, which I was a bit surprised with. But I just had to go out and train and show what I can do.

'I learned a lot from Mourinho and the players, the tempo of training, how hard you're training. And I just took that back to the youth team and tried to do that in the training sessions with them.'

And he certainly did remind his former suitors of his talents on a historic night at Blundell Park.