Manchester United academy goalkeeper Ondrej Mastny says it is a privilege just to shake hands with David de Gea and Sergio Romero.
“It's great to look into a first-team changing room,” Mastny said. “And be in contact with them. Even just to shake hands with them is a great experience. We talked about many things, they help me sometimes in training.
“It (the physicality) is the same for everyone. We just need to deal with it no matter how physical they are. We have to do our best.
“It is always hard to play against these types of opponents [like Wigan], when they just sit back, waiting for us to make a mistake. But I think we did pretty well, and we won 2-1 which is the important thing.
“Every Youth Cup game is important for us, doesn't matter if it's the semi-finals or first round. We always try to do well, as I think we did.”
United were due to play Chelsea on Saturday night in their semi-final but the fixture has been indefinitely postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic. United beat Leeds and Wigan in the fifth round and quarter-finals in front of impressive crowds at Old Trafford and a one-legged semi-final at Stamford Bridge awaits.
Chelsea have won five of the last six Youth Cups and their hegemony was ended by United in the third round last season when Mason Greenwood claimed a hat-trick, and Mastny is confident of inflicting another defeat on Chelsea.
“Chelsea have won it many times,” Mastny added. “All I can say is we will do our best to defeat them and reach the final. I am looking forward to it. When we play our best game I think we can beat anyone.”
“It's brilliant [playing in front of a crowd]. It is so different to playing an Under-18 league game. It's a great experience for us as well to have a feel of this great stadium, and the crowd was great.”