Saturday 3rd January 2015 15:03
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Johnson has banned his players from any 'selfies' with Wayne Rooney
Gary Johnson has warned his Yeovil players that they cannot afford to be in awe of Manchester United when the two sides meet in the FA Cup third round.
Johnson’s struggling side welcome the Premier League giants to Huish Park on Sunday on the back of three straight defeats and are currently bottom of League One.
United could field the likes of Wayne Rooney, David de Gea and a returning Angel Di Maria, but Johnson has ordered his players to focus on the match and not shirt swapping with some of the world's biggest names.
"Being starstruck by Manchester United is a concern and you can't stop human nature," the Yeovil manager told the Western Gazette.
"This is a one-off game which some of the lads aren't going to have again. I'm sure they will think: 'can I get Wayne Rooney's boots?' You know that's going to happen.
"But we need to make sure we get into game mode. I don't mind it after the final whistle, but I will have the raging hump if my players swap shirts before then.
"I don't want the lads having selfies with Wayne Rooney. We are going into battle and trying to stop one of the best teams in the world. So there won't be any selfies while I'm around."
Yeovil certainly have giant-killing pedigree having knocked out 20 Football League sides during their non-league days and have done battle with United before, back in 1949, on the back of one of their biggest ever scalps.
The then-Southern League Glovers knocked out Sunderland in the fourth round only to be beaten 8-0 by the Red Devils in front of more than 81,000 fans.
And while the most pessimistic of Yeovil fans may be fearing a repeat scoreline, Johnson insists his side will tackle Louis van Gaal's men on the front foot.
He said: "I've never parked the bus as a manager and we don't want to be doing that against Man United. We need our fair share of possession and we need to create chances.
"We don't want to play for a draw against them and get beat and wish we'd gone for it. We need to be trying to win. We aren't going to put 11 men in the box because United would find space anyway.
"On the day, it's 11 versus 11 and the FA Cup is famous for upsets."
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