Simon Grayson has admitted that the prospect of facing Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup was a "massive incentive" for Preston North End to win their fourth-round replay this evening.
Preston went into their replay against Sheffield United knowing that the winners of their match would face the victorious side from the replay between Louis van Gaal's side and Cambridge United.
Following his side's 3-1 win over the Blades, Grayson told BBC Radio 5 live: "It's been a disappointing few weeks for us but tonight is an excellent result. We've been lacking attacking options and confidence recently, but we're getting those players back now. But there was a massive incentive tonight to play Manchester United, and it brought out the best in us.
"We had to be focused tonight, because we know how good Sheffield United are. They have done fantastically well in the cups. We had to be at it, and from the first whistle we were really good and dominated, and they scored against the run of play. We kept our belief going.
"It's a massive result, and there was a massive carrot for us. Forget Manchester United, we just wanted to get back to winning ways. This result can hopefully now galvanise our league form. I'm sure it will be very difficult to get tickets for Deepdale, but I'll limit those I give out to people who came to places like Crawley and so on in January."
Man Utd beat Cambridge 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Sian Cowper
