UNITED SAVED BY THE HAND OF POD

Manchester United's shoot-out hero Ben Foster revealed how he sussed out Spurs – before receiving glowing testimonies from the club’s management team.

In an innovative move, the 26-year-old admitted that watching the Tottenham players take penalties on keeper coach Eric Steele's iPod helped him during the shoot-out.

"We have done a lot of research into the way each player is going to put their penalty," said Foster. "We went into the shoot-out as well prepared as possible.

"We have had things to look at over the last couple of days and before the shoot-out, you can see me looking at an iPod with Eric Steele. It had actual video on it and showed where players put things."

He added: "Eric brought it when he came to the club. I have never seen anything like it. It is a fantastic tool for us."

In addition to his penalty save from a distraught Jamie O’Hara, Foster also made two fine saves during the game to keep United’s hopes alive.

And delighted manager Sir Alex Ferguson is confident Foster can go on to cement his place as the number one stopper at the club, once the reign of Edwin Van der Sar is over.

"The future is his," added the Scot. "The present belongs to Edwin, that is obvious, but that performance can only strengthen my opinion of Ben's ability and his own self-confidence.

"He is a strong character - he has had to be. He has had to come through two cruciate ligament injuries and you have to have something inside you to do that."

United's assistant manager Mike Phelan also paid tribute to Foster and added: “In the end it came down to the goalkeepers and our one made a great save.

"Ben has been unlucky with the odd injury this season, but we know he's got quality and he can be a Man United goalkeeper. It is important he gets games for us and what happened can only help us.

"It was a hard game and both sets of players were shattered at the end, they were cramping but they kept going and it's a good feeling when you win on penalties."

Foster, playing in only his seventh game of the season for United, was delighted to play his part in the win. "I felt good from the start. I haven't played many games which isn't great, but it was great of the gaffer to give me a chance," he said.

"All the lads are heroes, they had to knock in the penalties and they looked super-cool, they all looked like they were going to score. If they hadn't, we wouldn't have our medals. I'm delighted we managed to win."