United old boy Stam eyes upset

Jaap Stam returns to Manchester United on Saturday with the Reading boss plotting an FA Cup giant-killing at the club that sold him when he fell out with then-manager Alex Ferguson.

The 44-year-old former hardman defender, who won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the 1999 Champions League during his threeyear stay at United, has impressed in his first job in England, guiding Championship Reading to the cusp of the automatic promotion places to the top flight.

However, the Royals confront a United side which is FA Cup holder and is finally beginning to gel under boss Jose Mourinho, winning seven straight matches in all competitions.

Dutchman Stam, whose biography sparked the fallingout with Ferguson and saw him sold to Lazio, said Saturday’s third-round clash was not about him.

“Of course we’re looking forward to it. It’s a great draw, not only for me, but also for the players,” Stam told Reading’s website.

“To play at Old Trafford in front of 80,000 people, against quality players in the FA Cup, a competition everyone wants to do well in, a trophy everybody wants to win, it’s going to be nice.

“It’ll be good to be back in Manchester. I still love the club, I love the fans, I had a great time over there and it’s going to be good to be going back in this way.

“We’re not saying we don’t have a chance. Everybody has a chance. It’s not about me, it’s about Reading facing United at Old Trafford.”

Fellow second-tier team Preston North End is also hoping to claim a major scalp.

It hosts an Arsenal side which is not in a good place at the moment, with Chilean star Alexis Sanchez reportedly refusing to speak to his teammates after this week’s 3-3 draw at Bournemouth.

Wenger’s ‘big priority’

Preston will hope to go one better than its 1999 predecessors under former Manchester United boss David Moyes, who led the Gunners 2-0 in their third-round tie before losing 4-2.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said the competition is “a big priority” for the 2014 and 2015 champion despite its Premier League and Champions League ambitions.

“It is a big priority for us,” Wenger said. “We have shown historically that we care about it and it is a massive competition for everybody.

“To win the FA Cup is always a target each year. We know as well that after a congested Christmas period that the third round is always a tricky game.”