Manchester United defender John O’Shea insists his side can head back into Barclays Premier League action at Middlesbrough on Sunday bursting with pride after their midweek Champions League exploits.
United eased past Roma 2-0 in Italy to put themselves in pole position for a place in the semi-finals and give them a major boost ahead of the crucial clash against Gareth Southgate’s men.
O’Shea, who replaced injury victim Nemanja Vidic after 33 minutes, said: “We can be very proud of the performance because Roma are a very good team.
“I thought it was very impressive. To come away in the Champions League at any stage, but especially in the quarter finals, Roma were so familiar to us as well.
“When the back four and Edwin (van der Sar) are playing so well and all the experience they have, it is easy to slot in to the confidence of the team.
“We have been keeping clean sheets all season and we just had to do that again.”
O’Shea is expected to figure from the start in the north-east with Vidic ruled out for three weeks. Nani remains a doubt after missing the trip to Italy with a thigh strain.
Mikael Silvestre should figure after shaking off a knee injury while Gary Neville is edging closer to full fitness. Darren Fletcher (knee) and Louis Saha (hamstring) are both still out.
But O’Shea went on to warn his United team-mates not to take their first-leg result for granted with Roma expected to come to Old Trafford and throw everything at the United defence.