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 yesterday.
“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”.
Palace may be 12th in the Premier League but have matched their record points tally with two games still to play.
In the FA Cup they have clicked impressively, winning 3-0 at Fulham in the quarter-finals and then beating Aston Villa by the same margin at Wembley in the semis.
Now they have one last obstacle to get over and claim the south London club’s first major trophy in its 120-year history.
City, who are appearing in their third successive FA Cup final, have endured a humbling season and are still not guaranteed a top-five finish in the Premier League.