“No-one on the planet...” Boss outlines task facing Sheffield United as he makes Man City ‘upset’ pledge

Paul Heckingbottom had acknowledged that "there is probably no-one else on the planet" think that his Sheffield United side can cause an FA Cup semi-final upset against Manchester City this weekend - but is refusing to rule it out.

United go up against arguably the best team on the planet at the minute at Wembley, and face surely the world's top striker in Erling Haaland - who scored his 48th goal of the season on Wednesday evening to help City progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

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United know full well the size of the task they are facing against Pep Guardiola's side but also know they cannot cower at the opportunity of taking them on, with the prize of a first FA Cup final since 1936 at stake.

“There is probably no one else on the planet thinking we’ll be in the final, but that’s not to say we can’t do it,” Heckingbottom, whose side are one win away from promotion to the Premier League, said in his pre-match press conference this afternoon.

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“We have to approach the game in that way and with the intention of causing an upset.

“This season so far has been great. The position we are in in the league, the FA Cup semi-final; it could end up being a really memorable season in this club’s history, but we have to achieve something for that.

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“To do that in the FA Cup, we have to get past one of the best teams on the planet.

“We are going to enjoy it and try to give a really, really good account of ourselves. We know who we are playing, we know their calibre of player and we need them to have an off day and we be at the top of our game.

“The occasion itself means it is a totally different experience anyway, but we want to make sure we get something out of this season. Not just a pat on the back for doing well so far.”

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