FA Cup Final: ‘It’s 90 per cent about us,’ says Crystal Palace manager Glasner ahead of Man City clash

FA Cup Final: ‘It’s 90 per cent about us,’ says Crystal Palace manager Glasner ahead of Man City clash

The quiet confidence seeping out of Crystal Palace’s training ground ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester City was summed up by manager Oliver Glasner on Friday.

“We’re focused on what we want to do tomorrow at Wembley. We analysed Man City, but 90% we were talking about us,” Glasner, who will become the first Austrian to lead a team in an FA Cup final, told reporters.

“This is what we can influence. We can influence our performance. We can influence what we want to do in and out of possession. And the focus was on our game. We have a lot of confidence and looking forward to the final,” he added.

Palace may be 12th in the Premier League but has matched its record points tally with two games still to play.

In the FA Cup, it has clicked impressively, winning 3-0 at Fulham in the quarterfinals and then beating Aston Villa by the same margin at Wembley in the semis.

Now it has one last obstacle to get over and claim the south London club’s first major trophy in its 120-year history.

City, which is appearing in its third successive FA Cup final, has endured a humbling season and is still not guaranteed a top-five finish in the Premier League.

Palace drew 2-2 with City at Selhurst Park in the league and led 2-0 in the return fixture, only to lose 5-2. It also lost 4-2 last April, a couple of months after Glasner took charge.

Scoring goals against Pep Guardiola’s team has not been a problem, but Glasner knows it will need to adjust defensively to give itself the best possible chance at Wembley.

“In every single game (against City) we scored two goals, but we just had one draw, because we conceded four, two and five, so we have to make a few adjustments in our defending,” he said.

“Because when you concede five, it’s tough to win, but when you score two, you should be able to win. So we have confidence that we will create our chances, we will create our situations to score goals, but we have to do better in defence, and I don’t mean the back three or the back five. So as a team, maybe we have to adjust a few things, and this is what we want to do tomorrow,” he added.

Glasner gave an encouraging update on his squad’s fitness, with midfielder Adam Wharton ready to play after missing the Premier League victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

“Positive team news: everybody is fit, Adam Wharton trained the whole week and is available and all others as well. Some tough decisions, but good decisions to take,” Glasner said.

Palace fans, hoping it will be third time lucky in Cup finals after defeats in 1990 and 2016, produced a wall of sound and colour in the semifinal against Villa and are bound to give their side passionate support again on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Dean Henderson was one of several Palace players to donate to a fundraising campaign for a giant ‘tifo’ against Villa, and another 45,000 pounds has been raised for another one to be unfurled ahead of Saturday’s Wembley showdown.

“The one against Villa was top class,” said Henderson. “I don’t know what they are going to do with 40-odd grand — but I’m excited to see it.”