Shelvey out to shock Red Devils

José Mourinho's side have not lost at Old Trafford for more than a year and to some, a trip to the Red Devils' 75,643-capacity stadium to face the team currently second in the table would be a daunting prospect.

But England international Shelvey has always been a player for the big stage and, speaking at last week's annual Newcastle United Foundation dinner, he told NUFC TV: "As a footballer to go to grounds like that - and I include St. James' Park in that - to play against the best players in the world, it's every kid's dream.


"Rafa (Benítez) knows this league, he knows how to set teams up and how to get results and I'm sure that we'll go there and give a good account of ourselves, and hopefully come away with something."

The Magpies' last two results have been disappointing, with 1-0 losses against Burnley and Bournemouth, but before that, Benítez's side had been beaten just once in seven matches.

And Shelvey insisted: "I think people probably read too much into the last two results. You're going to win games and lose games this season - it's just part and parcel of football.

"We probably should have had (the Bournemouth) game buried by half time but it wasn't to be and we ended up losing.

"You could tell the disappointment in the changing room after the last two games - everyone's coming in dejected because they know we could have done better and got something - but it is what it is. 



"We could go and do something against Man United - that's how weird this league is.

"Anyone can beat anyone, so I think there's enough for us to survive in this league. That's our main goal, and then to build a platform and go on from there."

He added: "If someone said to me last year that by the third international break you'd be sitting in 11th place, the majority of people would have bitten their hand off for it.

"No-one knew how we were going to get on to start off with - a lot of people were probably tipping us to go straight back down - but I feel there is enough in the changing room, and what we've shown it on the pitch, to keep us up."