Irwin backs De Gea to beat his appearance tally

“Well I think he’s a legend anyway, there’s no doubt about that,” Denis said. “The amount of time he’s spent here, the amount of games he’s played.

“But what I will say is Alex Stepney was a great goalkeeper back in the day and if David does manage to pass him that is another fantastic achievement, to be the goalkeeper with the most appearances.

“I think we’ll have to play a lot of matches for him to get past it, but the good thing about this manager, he doesn’t make too many changes. [David’s] played a lot of matches in the first half of the season and I’m sure he’s going to play a lot of matches in the second half of the season.

“The fact that we’re still involved in a lot of cup competitions, and hopefully we’ll go further in cups as well, makes that Alex Stepney appearance [record] within sight. Let’s hope he [surpasses] that.”