Barnsley keeper Luke Steele is aiming to put himself in the shop window with what he hopes will be another match-winning FA Cup performance.Steele became an instant Tykes hero by agreeing to a last-minute loan deal from West Brom on the eve of the club's fifth-round tie at Liverpool last month.

The life-long Manchester United fan then realised a boyhood dream by playing his part in a remarkable 2-1 victory at Anfield to help set Barnsley up for a quarter-final clash with Chelsea.

The route to fame, though, has been a rocky one for Steele, who started off on Peterborough's books before securing a memorable move to Old Trafford.

But despite spending four-and-a-half years at United, Steele never came close to making a first-team appearance, with the 23-year-old even spending a season on loan at Coventry.

Bryan Robson then signed Steele for the Baggies in August 2006, and since the appointment of Tony Mowbray as manager, the young number one has barely been given a chance.

Steele appreciates that for his future well-being he needs to quit The Hawthorns, with Saturday's glamour tie an opportunity to prove his worth to prospective clubs.

"You have to be realistic," said Steele.

"Tony Mowbray hasn't been playing me, and with Dean Kiely doing so well, I can see I will have to move on.

"You have to take these opportunities, so I do see my move here to Barnsley and Saturday's game as a shop window in a way.

"It's also to prove to myself I can play at this level because I lost confidence from being on the bench all the time at West Brom.

"You need a run of games to restore your confidence before you can think about moving on.

"But if anything comes of it, then brilliant. It's obviously what I'm hoping for because I'm only 23, and hopefully I've a lot of years ahead of me.

"I want to carry on playing, at least in the Championship, and then obviously progress to the top like any other player."

Steele has already savoured the big time with United, and although it was a wrench to leave, he knew he had to walk away.

"I signed a new deal just before I left, then all of a sudden Sir Alex Ferguson said Bryan Robson wanted to sign me at West Brom," said Steele.

"So I looked at it realistically. I thought 'Am I going to play at Manchester United?'

"(Edwin) van der Sar was doing a brilliant job at the time, and I was third choice so I thought the best thing for me was to leave and hope for a chance at West Brom.

"But it didn't happen. It is just not meant to be at Albion for me at the moment.

"When I look back I was happy to leave United in the end because although it was wonderful there, it wasn't first-team football.

"I knew time was ticking on, and I just wanted to crack on with playing every week. In a way my patience had run out.

"At that time I knew it would be hard for a young goalkeeper to break into the first team, and I'm not comfortable sitting on the bench."

After his and Barnsley's heroics at Anfield, Steele sees no reason why manager Simon Davey's side cannot cause another major upset at Oakwell.

"Chelsea will know about our win over Liverpool and all the flak and stick (Rafael) Benitez received afterwards," said Steele.

"It was a shock, and they will want to make sure it doesn't happen again, but we're going to do all we can to make sure it does."

Davey has virtually a full squad to choose from, although striker Jon Macken and defender Lewin Nyatanga are both ineligible.

More Football News from TEAMtalk