Midfielder Bradley Johnson believes tonight’s Carabao Cup clash against Manchester United will a test for Derby County but he sees it as an opportunity to pit their wits against some of the best players in the world.
Johnson has started in the opening two rounds of the competition in the 0-2 victory against Sky Bet League Two side Oldham Athletic and the convincing 0-4 win over Championship side Hull City.
Whilst it is not the first time Johnson has come up against the Red Devils, he believes Derby County can show the world what they are about.
“It is always going to be tough at Old Trafford but we can look at it and say these are the teams that we want to be playing against week in, week out,” he said. “When I signed here, the main aim has always been to get promotion and we haven’t got that yet but it’s a good test for us.
“No matter what team they play, if they rest a few, then they will still be strong but as a player growing up, these are the games you want to be involved in.
“We are going to Old Trafford, the history of that stadium speaks for itself and hopefully we can play against the best players in the world and it will be a massive test for us.”
Johnson continued: “Look at the manager’s career, he’s been brought up with that winning mentality so he’s going to want to win everything he can. We’re not going out to say we are going to win the cup but every game we go into we want to win.
“You can tell that in the previous cup games where we have played strong sides and you can see he wants to get through to the next round. I’m sure it will be the same at Old Trafford, we will go out there and we want to get the win.”