Rio Ferdinand has lavished praise on Manchester United defender Luke Shaw - claiming the England left-back was the best player on the pitch as Manchester United beat Derby.
Shaw opened the scoring at Pride Park as his effort brushed the back of teammate Jesse Lingard before looping over the goalkeeper and into the net.
A brace from Odion Ighalo sealed a routine FA Cup win for United who will take on Norwich at Carrow Road in the quarter-finals.
Shaw came in for a huge amount of criticism for his displays under former Old Trafford boss Jose Mourinho, with Ferdinand admitting some of his performances were 'passive'.
But the United legend has hailed Shaw's resurgence as the former Southampton full-back looks to cement his place in Gareth Southgate's England side for Euro 2020.
Ferdinand told BT Sport: "He came under a lot of scrutiny, Mourinho was a big part of it. We questioned his mentality, was he strong enough to come back.
"He's proving people wrong, now in great vein of form, he was the best player on pitch with Ighalo. He's upped his game. Some criticism was deserved at time in his performances, he's in fantastic form now.
"A lot of stuff he was doing in years gone by, the word passive suited him perfectly in terms of defending but now he penetrating on and off the ball."
The emergence of youngster Brandon Williams has provided a credible threat to Shaw at left-back, and Mirror columnist Robbie Savage believes that has helped the 24-year-old.
"He's younger than Shaw, he's got the competition he needs," said the former Derby midfielder.
"Let's not underestimate how bad of an injury that was which he had. Now he's got a run in the side. The standard of full backs has been raised.
"Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, he's seen that and knows now. He wants to get in the England team. Chilwell is in there, he knows he needs to improve to be among these."
