ON Sunday, May 14, 1995, Ludek Miklosko wrote his name into West Ham folklore by producing a performance that almost single-handedly denied Manchester United the Premier League title.

The Czech goalkeeper, who spent nine seasons with the Irons, pulled off a series of stunning saves to earn the Hammers a 1-1 draw, handing the championship to Blackburn Rovers in the process.

Nearly 13 years on and "Ludo" is planning to thwart the Red Devils again - by imitating United winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Miklosko's modern-day successor, Robert Green, revealed that the man who "comes from near Moscow" has been firing powerful, swerving shots to help him prepare for the Portuguese forward's infamous free-kicks.

"Ronaldo's obviously got his own technique, but we've got Ludo and he can hit the ball as hard as anyone which is one technique," said Green.

"It's very difficult to recreate the way the ball gets movement.

"It's the same as three or four deflections on the way to going in - if the ball takes three or four deflections then its pretty unlucky but its exactly the same.

"So it's very difficult to work around but it's something you've got to deal with.

"You can't predict where it's going to go, but you know any free-kick in the Premier League is going to be moving fast."

Green arrives at Old Trafford for today's lunch-time kick-off with an appetising record against Sir Alex Ferguson's men, The Chertsey-born stopper has won the last four of the five matches he has played against United in his career with Norwich and West Ham.

One of those victories came on the final day of last season, when Carlos Tevez - who will line-up against the Hammers tomorrow - scored a dramatic winner to keep the East Enders in the Premier League.

And the England international admitted the success was one of the highlights of his career.

"The fact was that 10 games previously everyone had completelywritten us off but we knew we could match anyone in the league.

"We got there and walked out on to the pitch for the second half and for the whole of Old Trafford to be singing Send them down' was quite a motivation.

"It was enjoyable to really dampen their (title) party."

Despite the thrill of last season's win, however, Green is looking forward to being able to enjoy his day out at the Theatre of Dreams without the threat of relegation weighing on his shoulders.

"It's hopefully going to be a more pleasant experience this time around because we haven't got so much riding on it," observed the 28-year-old.

"We can go there and play football and hopefully give them a real challenge and a few things to think about.

"It's going to be tough and we'll be nervous but we won't have the anxiety of last season.

"We can go there and enjoy it and you play better when you're enjoying your football."