Manuel Pellegrini backs Manchester City to see off Everton and reach Wembley

27 January 2016 07:53

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is confident his side can turn around their Capital One Cup semi-final against Everton.

City host the Toffees in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday needing to overcome a 2-1 deficit to claim a place in next month's Wembley final.

It is the third meeting between the two clubs in three weeks, after they also played out a goalless draw in the Barclays Premier League, and Pellegrini is hopeful of getting the upper hand this time.

The Chilean said: "I am sure if we repeat what we did against Everton here in the last game in the Premier League, especially the last 45 minutes, we are going to score goals.

"But it's very important to concentrate on defending because they have very dangerous attacking players - Ross Barkley, (Romelu) Lukaku, (Gerard) Deulofeu - difficult players to stop.

"We must be a very balanced team but not change our style of what is the best way to win."

The match at the recently-expanded 55,000-capacity Etihad Stadium is not yet a sell-out but, with 48,000 tickets sold as of Tuesday, the attendance will still be City's largest for a domestic cup tie since 1981. If the crowd goes above 50,000, as the club hope, it will be City's biggest cup attendance for 41 years.

Pellegrini said: "I'm sure that we're going to have the support of the fans we have in every game here.

"Of course it's asking a lot of supporters to support every game, but normally here in England the stadiums are always full for different reasons."

Everton go into the game with an advantage and the extra incentive of a possible all-Merseyside final against Liverpool to aim for.

Manager Roberto Martinez is not fazed by City or their liking for playing at home. City have failed to score just once in their last 26 games at Eastlands - and that was against Everton a fortnight ago.

Martinez said: "City have one of the best home records in the league and we know it is a massive hurdle but we will give everything we have got to get to the final.

"Our away record is exceptional - one defeat all season.

"This is a one-off and one that we have to be prepared. Mentally it is a huge occasion.

"We need to make sure we play the game to win that game in isolation, you can only think about the overall score in the last five or 10 minutes because there is not a big enough margin to be thinking about it."

Source: PA