Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl believes his team has what it takes to overcome Man City in today’s FA Cup clash.
Southampton have held Man City to draws twice this term, both home and away, and will have the advantage of a packed St Mary’s crowd this weekend, but Hasenhüttl is under no illusion about the size of the task ahead.
The players have had a focused week of preparation, he confirmed, and are in good spirits ahead of Sunday’s one-off tie, where the victor will progress to the semi-finals held at Wembley Stadium.
“We have shown in two games this season that we can draw against them [Man City], today we need to win,” Hasenhüttl began, assertively. “We have maybe 120 minutes time for doing this.
“We’ve both had a week to prepare for this game. Hopefully we find a few good solutions. We all know when you face one of the best teams in the world you have to do a very good job. I think, yeah, we are absolutely convinced we can do a good job against them.
“It can be very often a game-changer, for us, if you have five substitutes. Because you can react a little bit more from outside, adapt your game in key moments. This is definitely helpful.
“This opportunity [in the FA Cup] is always there. This is a different competition [from the Premier League]. It has always been a target for us, to be honest.
“We could feel that the players are really looking forward to this game and the guys that offer me the most will get the chance to play.”
