Roy Keane hammered me in Manchester United training at 15 - I'll never forget what he told me

Alex Notman remembers sitting in the Cliff training ground the morning after the night before. It was Thursday, December 3, 1998 and the previous evening the 19-year-old Scottish striker had made his debut for Manchester United. Now, his fellow Scot and the club's manager was striding towards him.

"I thought you did really well last night," Alex Ferguson told Notman that morning. "I really think you can get in front of a few people in that squad, just keep going the way you're going."

There had been just under 20 minutes left of a League Cup tie at White Hart Lane when Ferguson beckoned Notman back from his warm-up.

"I wasn't sure if he was going to put me on, the next thing he's called me back to get on and then he put me on up front," remembers Notman. "It was me, Solskjaer and Sheringham because at that time I think we were 2-1 or 3-1 down. I felt I did really well."

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Ferguson's comments the following morning backed up that view. Unfortunately, those players he was trying to get in front of were Solskjaer, Sheringham, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke. It explains why it never quite happened for Notman, who got close to squads after that but couldn't build on his debut.

Not that he ever lost faith. The season he made his debut has gone down as United's greatest, culminating in the Nou Camp on May 26, 1999. By then, the young forward was back in Scotland, following events from afar after a dispiriting loan spell at Aberdeen.

Notman still felt a part of that success, even if his involvement came in the one competition United didn't win that season. He also retained the