Middlesbrough centre-back Dael Fry is relishing the prospect of facing Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo in the FA Cup fourth-round on Friday evening.
The Championship side, who are currently camped inside the play-off places, will visit Old Trafford looking to pull off one of the shocks of the round against Ralf Rangnick's troops.
Boro have been flying in recent weeks under new boss Chris Wilder and will pose a genuine threat to United, with the Riverside club having quickly adapted to the demands that Wilder requires to make his teams so successful and hard to beat, as proven by his work at Sheffield United.
But while Wilder's team will arrive at Old Trafford looking to cause a famous FA Cup upset, academy graduate Fry admitted he can't wait to share a pitch with Ronaldo, should the Portuguese star be selected, revealing that it will be "crazy" just to be stood near to him.
"I am looking forward to going to Old Trafford and playing against probably one of the best to ever play the game in Ronaldo," Fry said, as quoted by TeessideLive.
"I've thought about it quite a lot, to be honest. I've thought about just kind of being stood near him and going, ‘Alright mate’, and see what he says.
"But even just to be stood that close to him will be crazy, but hopefully we can do a job on him as well."
Friday night's clash with United, however, will not present Fry with his first experience of going up against a world-class striker. He faced former Manchester City ace Sergio Aguero during a quarter-final clash in the FA Cup in 2017 and he insists he is the best he has faced in his career to date.
He added: "I'd probably say [Sergio] Aguero is the best I've faced so far.
"I came on for 45 minutes and I realised how good he actually is. I remember [Raheem] Sterling had the ball and I was marking Aguero. I looked away for a split second, looked back and he wasn't there.
"He'd ran off my shoulder and thankfully Brad Guzan pulled off a worldie save."
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