Evans: Rio took me under his wing
When Jonny Evans was coming through the Manchester United Academy, entering a dressing room that featured the likes of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic would, no doubt, have been a daunting prospect.
Evans took to the challenge like a duck to water and went on to cement a place in the first team, racking up 198 appearances for the Reds.
On Saturday night, against Burnley in the Premier League, Jonny played his 200th match for United after returning to the club this summer, following eight years away.
Now one of the more experienced members of the squad, as opposed to when he first broke through, the 35-year-old is the one issuing advice to youngsters.
The player he has become, Evans says, is in part due to the influence of those he played alongside, in particular our former no.5.
Evans on the past, present and future
Jonny Evans speaks about Rio Ferdinand, Marcus Rashford, the United Academy and more in his chat with TNT Sports...
"Nearly every centre-back I've played alongside [I have learned from]," he began, in an interview with TNT Sports.
"I've seen things where I thought 'I'd like to try that' or I like the way they do something. So I've learnt a lot over the years and your youngest days are probably when you're most impressionable and I think, you know, obviously Rio [Ferdinand], Wes [Brown], [Nemanja] Vidic - top players.
"I was always sort of coming in to try to learn as much as I could from them and I remember Wes giving me tips on how to, not necessarily how to head the ball, but how to compete to head the ball. And I used to watch Rio and Rio had an unbelievable skill of getting his leg in front of the centre-forward and nicking the ball.
"So they were all brilliant, as defenders, to learn off and I'm very fortunate to be able to see that up close and be able to learn from such top players."
But it wasn't just on the pitch where his fellow professionals guided Jonny, with the Northern Ireland star extoling the virtues of having experienced internationals around him during his formative years in the Reds' first team.
"Off the pitch, I'll have to say Rio, [he was] unbelievable for myself," Evans explained, when asked about his biggest influences.
"You know, as a young lad coming in, he really sort of [helped], I kind of felt like he took me under his wing a bit. And I think he did that with all the young lads, all the Academy players coming through.
"There were a lot of senior players in that squad who really made us feel welcome and really integrated in the squad. And I can only thank him for that.
"He was he was an amazing player to look up to and have in the dressing room."