Oliver Glasner: Man City will ‘fight’ to deny Crystal Palace first major trophy

Oliver Glasner concedes an FA Cup win might hold more weight for Crystal Palace than it could for final opponents Manchester City.

When the sides meet at Wembley, Pep Guardiola will be leading out City in search of the 19th trophy of his prolific nine-year tenure in Manchester alone. Glasner’s side will be playing for the first major silverware in their entire history.

Glasner insists his men have blocked out the noise and will approach the contest like any other, but there will be tens of thousands sporting red and blue on Saturday afternoon who will be utterly unable to treat the occasion as mere business as usual.

And while he would not wholly claim the cup would absolutely hold more significance for the south Londoners, Glasner said: “If something is the first time in your life, then maybe it means more to you then when you have it every single year.

“Under Pep, how many trophies they have won, how many City have, how many finals they have played, it’s definitely more than Crystal Palace have.

“Still, for the players, for a manager, for a club, winning a trophy is always something great in a season. So I don’t expect that they will wave the white flag and then say, ‘OK, it’s a first title for Crystal Palace, you should get it.’

“I think they will fight to win it.”

The crowdfunding effort for Palace’s fan display at Wembley has surpassed £45,000, including contributions from Eagles players Dean Henderson and Chris Richards as well as Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee, a lifelong supporter.

Glasner has a fully-fit squad at his disposal save his long-term absentees, welcome news after midfielder Adam Wharton was ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League triumph over Tottenham.

The sides drew 2-2 when they played each other at Selhurst Park in December, but Guardiola’s men more recently came back to claim a 5-2 Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium last month.

“It’s football,” Glasner said of Palace’s chances at Wembey. “So many things can happen, but we want to do it in our way. We will do it in our way, and then I think we have the best chances to win the final.

“I think City will do the same. This is why 90,000 will watch, and I don’t know how many millions more on TV, because nobody knows the result, but we feel ready to win it.”

Questions loom over the future of the Austrian boss, still in just his first full season at Selhurst Park but drawing rumoured interest from sides including RB Leipzig and Tottenham.

A number of players including captain Marc Guehi – whose deal expires next summer  – have also been linked to moves elsewhere this summer.

Asked how important lifting a trophy with Palace could be – and that speculation – Guehi replied: “I think the most important is just always doing the best I can for this football club.

“I come in every day and I try to be the same. I try to work hard. This football club has given me a lot. I’m still under contract at this football club.

“The most important is just doing the best I can and then seeing what the future holds.”