SERGIO Peter is praying for the chance to face Manchester United after he helped inspire Blackburn Rovers to a comprehensive 3-0 FA Cup win over QPR at the weekend.
The German teenager sparkled on his senior debut for Rovers, setting up all three goals as Mark Hughes' side romped to a fifth straight win in all competitions.
It was an impressive way for the confident 19-year-old to launch his Blackburn career and now he is hoping that performance might earn him a place on the bench for Wednesday night's Carling Cup semi-final meeting with United.
"I hope I'll be involved against United," said Peter, who only knew he was going to start against QPR several hours before kick-off.
"They are a big club in England and everyone knows their players.
"Everyone in Germany has been asking me 'are you playing against Manchester United?' and I've just said 'I don't know yet'.
"After my performance against QPR, I hope and pray that I will get the chance."
Peter made a dream start to his Rovers career, setting up the opening goal for Andy Todd on Saturday with a sweetly struck corner in the 17th minute.
His afternoon then got even better 19 minutes later when he supplied the cross for Craig Bellamy to score Rovers' second with a magnificent left-foot volley.
Four minutes from time, the German Youth international then rounded off a perfect debut by providing a killer pass for Bellamy to make it 3-0 as Rovers marched emphatically into round four.
"It was great to play with the bigger players like Savage, Bellamy and Tugay," said Peter.
"It was my first game with the first team and I thought I did okay so I'm very happy with myself.
"Before the game, the manager just said to me 'if you make a mistake then don't worry about it, just keep doing things easy and simple', and they seemed to be happy with me and I was happy with myself as well.
"I set up three goals and thought I did well for the team, but in the final third I wanted to have a go myself and score so I could celebrate myself.
"At the end of the day, though, we won the game and scored three goals so when the next game comes up, I just hope I'm playing."
Peter certainly isn't the type who would be fazed by the prospect of facing United.
He added: "I don't care who I'm playing against. Any game is a big game. It doesn't matter if it's Real Madrid or Manchester United, you are still ultimately playing for three points and you are playing for your team and your fans."
Manager Mark Hughes was also full of praise for the way Peter rose to the challenge against Rangers.
He believes the young German could have a promising future in the game, providing he doesn't let his promotion go to his head.
"We have high hopes for him," said Hughes.
"He is a confident young man and, if he can keep his feet on the ground, he has a good future."
As for Rovers' general performance, Hughes added: "The important thing from our point of view was to score first, which we were able to do.
"QPR did make it more difficult for us in the second half but we were always in control of the game once we got two goals in front.
"It was a good performance and, all in all, a very pleasing result."
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