Manchester City achieved quite a coup by beating fierce rivals United to reach the FA Cup final and they did so without Micah Richards, who missed the tie with a hamstring injury.
The England international was supposed to start the game after recovering earlier than expected from a hamstring injury, but he was forced to withdraw from the squad after suffering a new injury on the eve of the game.
Nevertheless, the 22-year-old is confident he will be fit for the FA Cup final at Wembley.
“I was a bit gutted, as I strained my hamstring again on Friday. I was down to play as well,” Richards was quoted as saying.
“I’ll definitely be fit for the final. I’ll make sure of it.
“It was still a great day and I was just happy for the boys. It was a great event and it was great to be at Wembley and to beat United.
“The boys deserve to be there for all the hard work they’ve put in. There’s been a lot of criticism recently from people saying we’re not up to it, but we prove people wrong all the time.
“And they did that again with the performance on Saturday – so long may it continue.”
Manchester City are odds-on favourites to lift the long-awaited trophy, with 888Sport paying 1.40 (2/5) on City to lift the title, whereas Stoke are 3.25 (9/4) to win the FA Cup at Victor Chandler.
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