‘We knew he was going to make it’ – Corey Blackett-Taylor recalls youth clashes with Manchester United star ahead of EFL Cup quarter-final

Charlton winger Corey Blackett-Taylor has history with Manchester United star Marcus Rashford.

The former Aston Villa man went toe to toe with the England international when he came up through the academy system at Villa Park – with Rashford in the same age group as he rose through the ranks at Old Trafford.

League One Charlton head to the Theatre of Dreams in an EFL Cup quarter-final on Tuesday evening. In-form Rashford has scored five goals in his last five outings for the Red Devils.

Blackett-Taylor reckons that anyone who came up against Rashford back then knew he was destined for great things.

“I used to play against him when I was younger,” revealed the Charlton man.

“Through the academy when I was at Aston Villa. His form right now is really good, he’s showing how good he is.

“The players in my team definitely did [know how good he was]. He wasn’t always a winger, he used to play as a number 10, centre-mid. You could see how good he was on the ball from back then. We knew that he was going to make it.

“We didn’t know he’d be to the level he is now, but we knew he was going to make it.”

Charlton will be massive outsiders against their Premier League hosts on Tuesday but have already beaten top flight Brighton en route to the quarter-finals.

The South Londoners recently ended an eight-game winless run in League One with triumphs against Portsmouth and Lincoln – which Blackett-Taylor says means the Addicks will head into the clash with a renewed sense of confidence.

He added: “The fact that we’ve won our last two games means we’ve got the most confidence we could have. I don’t ever think that we can’t go and do it. We have to make sure we work as hard as we have the last two games. Hopefully we get a bit of luck as well.

“As with any game of football, there’s always going to be an opportunity. Against a good team like Manchester United, we’re going to have to make sure that we make the most of it. We’ll have to be switched on for all of the game but anything is achievable.

“We’ve all been speaking about it. We’re happy that we’ve progressed through the last round and we’re there now. We’ve got a game at Old Trafford, which is mad. Everyone would love to play there. We’ll go there and enjoy it. Express ourselves.”

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