A red card in the game between United and Liverpool is hardly a rarity, but Jonjo Shelvey’s reaction to his sending off in 2012 was amongst the strangest.

As he walked off the field, he angrily started wagging his finger at Sir Alex Ferguson, as if it was the manager’s fault he went in with his studs on Jonny Evans. When Shelvey walked off the pitch, Ferguson turned and chuckled.

After the game, he took to Twitter to apologise to the fans, but then explained why he was so angry at Sir Alex.

I have also apologised to Sir Alex , just where I come from people don’t grass people up to get someone sent off.

Grass people up? Cringe.

Anyway, Shelvey has revealed that his hissy fit earned him the respect of Liverpool fans, but he now concedes how silly he was.

I was a bit immature then and a bit silly. I pulled him aside afterwards and apologised to him and he was spot on with me. He said, ‘no I like it. It shows you’ve got a bit of balls about you’. I got a few high fives around town for the next few months, but it was silly from me on the professional stage. You don’t do something like that. I was young and I was starting for Liverpool against Manchester United, games don’t come much bigger. I was immature, the occasion got the better of me. It was part of growing up and you learn from those sort of things.