OXFORD United’s giant centre half Mark Creighton, affectionately nicknamed “The Beast” by fans, has shown his softer side by saying he won’t get his nan to make an FA Cup cake this time.

He said: “I have a bit of history in the FA Cup when I was at Kidderminster.

“Last season at Kiddy we went on a great Cup run, through to playing at Coventry in the third round, and I became known for providing a cake before each round. It was even featured on the local BBC tv programme.

“It all came about when my nan brought a cake in to the club and passed it to the manager, Mark Yates, to give to me, but he said ‘to hell with that’ and ate it himself!

“It was before an FA Cup game and we won. And with Yatesy superstitious, she was asked to bake another one for the next round, and so on.

“But the gaffer here’s not superstitious, and he doesn’t need any cake, does he? So I don’t think I’ll be doing it again.”

So the Oxford Mail brought a cake to training for him to try . . . and what happened? Manager Chris Wilder sneaked off with the first piece!

Picture: Antony Moore