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Manchester Senior Cup final
Thursday 7 August, 19:00 BST
Ewen Fields, Hyde FC
MANCHESTER CITY
v
MANCHESTER UNITED
|
06/08/2014 10:11 - ManUtd.com, Adam Marshall
Manchester Senior Cup final preview
The Manchester Senior Cup is up for grabs when United face City at Hyde FC's Ewen Fields on Thursday night.
The Reds have won the competition 27 times with Warren Joyce's side lifting the trophy for the past three seasons. Qualification was actually secured for the final way back in September 2013 with Adnan Januzaj and Wilfried Zaha among the scorers in a 4-0 win against Bolton Wanderers.
After missing out on silverware last term when being beaten by Chelsea in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League final, the Reserves will be determined to come out on top in the local affair against City's Elite Development Squad.
United looked in good shape when defeating Barnsley 2-1 in a final pre-season friendly with midfielder Josh Harrop scoring both goals.
"It's been a bit of a gap," explained Warren Joyce to MUTV. "We would maybe have liked another game in between but we have to prepare in training and look forward to the City game."
Angelo Henriquez missed the Oakwell victory due to injury and Donald Love could be a doubt as he made only a brief appearance before being withdrawn soon after entering the fray as a second-half substitute.
"Donald has had one or two problems in pre-season," explained Joyce. "He's not really got back as he was injured for a long time last year and has not really done the same work as the other lads. He's not been able to train day in and day out like the others have done and is still recovering from the back end of last season."
Joyce utilised his full squad in the friendlies but is likely to field a strong side for the final with Tom Thorpe impressing as captain and Joe Rothwell and Ben Pearson working well in tandem in midfield. James Wilson came off the bench at Barnsley and will be an option to start as he looks to build on an outstanding 2013/14.
There is the possibility that several of the younger charges who were in the United States for Tour 2014 promoted by Aon could feature depending on manager Louis van Gaal's plans ahead of the Valencia friendly at Old Trafford next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, right-sided star Saidy Janko feels it is always imperative to triumph in the derby.
"I think it’s an important game," he stressed. "We need to win – for ourselves and the club as well."