United's flying winger Simon Hackney is enjoying a fantastic spell of form at the moment, and he was only too happy to talk about it ahead of the trip across the Pennines.

"My form recently, with both the goal-scoring and in terms of my general wing play, has been pretty good," he said. "I think we came back very well against Port Vale as a team. Obviously people will look at me because I scored two goals, but wen you come back from two down ... well, it isn't just one person who turns it around, it has to be the whole team. We turned in a really good second half display and we're all looking forward to the games that are coming up now."

"I like to think I'm OK when I get in to a goal scoring position," he added. "I seem to be getting to the right places at the right time just now, and I'm doing my best to stick them in the net when I get there."

"I wanted ten goals for the season when we started out, and you'd have to say that seeing as I've got seven I should get there now," he told us. "What I want to do is push on from there and get as many as I can now. Anything after ten is a bonus, but if I can chip in with as many as I can then it'll help the team, and also take a bit of pressure off the strikers too."

"I think it was actually my mum who told me that Joe Garner had been complimentary about me in the paper," he admitted. "I think he'd said that he felt the midfielders were taking a bit of pressure off him by scoring, so that's good to hear. Joe's done terrifically well this season, and he has really improved the team, He's only going to get better, so anything the rest of us can do to help him out a bit is obviously going to be a bonus."

"At the moment people are saying nice things about me, and that's great," he said. "Whenever people, and especially the fans, hold you in high regard then it's a great thing, but I'm not silly and the only way you keep that going is by working hard and giving it everything. I'll keeping listening to the coaches and taking in the advice, and working on what they are asking me to do, because I've still got a lot to learn. I feel like I'm learning new things every day, if I'm going to be really honest. Look at my shooting, that's improved immensely through work - so I still feel I've got a lot more to give."