Morgan Gibbs-White ready for Wolves cup action after Old Trafford cameo

What's your first thought? Well, 'oh crap' is what Morgan Gibbs-White said to himself as he prepared to take on the might of Manchester United, echoing how most of us mere mortals would probably feel as well.

It's been a whirlwind 12 months for the Stafford-born teenager, who a year ago was preparing to go to the Under-17 World Cup with England.

He and England of course won than tournament and he returned to Wolverhampton to force his way into Nuno Espirito Santo's first team plans, first in the Championship and now in the biggest league of them all, the Premier League.

Despite already playing 28 times for Wolves – and in front of 60,000 in that World Cup final over in India, it's refreshing to hear that Gibbs-White still gets those pre-game nerves, especially on Saturday.

“I was nervous from even stepping foot into the building! “ Gibbs-White told the Express & Star.

“Words can’t describe how it feels to step out on such an amazing pitch at Old Trafford, you can’t describe that feeling.

“It sort of hit me when I was just about to come on – I looked around and was like ‘Oh crap!’.

“But you have to stay calm and composed and take it in your stride and I think that’s what I did.

“You sort of know how to channel the nerves and then when you do get on the pitch you don’t really notice the nerves or the fans, you just focus on the game and your tasks.

“It’s a dream come true for me because since I was a kid I always used to say to my dad that I want to play at Old Trafford one day.

“It doesn’t seem real.”

For the teenager to say it’s been a dream ‘since he was a kid’ puts into perspective how much he’s had to grow up already despite his tender years.

He’s pleased with the trust placed in him by Nuno Espirito Santo.

“For the manager to put faith in me to send me on at 1-1, it’s promising and shows that he has trust in me and has faith in me,” he added. “He wants me to do well and when I come on I can only try and do my best for the team.

“He just wants me to keep playing how I’m playing.

“Hopefully in the next few months I can progress and keep getting game time in the cups and go from there.

“It was good for me to come on and try and prove myself.”

Gibbs-White is expected to start tonight as Wolves look to progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

The midfielder started in the last round and impressed as Wolves beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at Hillsborough.

He believes that victory showed that even with a much-changed XI, Wolves can still perform as a team.

“I’m really looking forward to it, hopefully I can get some minutes and prove that I’m ready and raring to go," he added.

“The boys are looking forward to it.

“We’ve come up and there are high expectations on us this season.

“We’ll knuckle down and focus on whatever the next game is.

“No matter what team the gaffer plays we’ll give our best, 110 per cent every time.

“It showed at Sheffield Wednesday, even though it wasn’t our strongest team, we could still all play together well enough and win games.”