DARREN GAVE UNITED A FINAL PUSH FOR GLORY

BRUNO FERNANDES has revealed the inspirational team talk from a Manchester United stalwart that helped them reach another FA Cup final.

Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher, now the club’s technical director, spoke to the players before their semi-final with Coventry to remind them of the “pride” in the shirt.

Fletcher’s career was littered with trophies, including five Premier League titles and an FA Cup – and he conveyed what it means to win silverware for United.

United captain Fernandes admitted there were mixed emotions after reaching the FA Cup final because they threw away a three-goal lead before eventually winning on penalties.

But there was also a message that they want to go back toWembley 12 months on from last year’s all-Manchester final and exact revenge. Asked what was said in the team talks by Erik ten Hag before the game and extra-time, Fernandes said: “To believe – to believe we can get into the final.

“It’s about pride, getting to an FA Cup final, as you don’t get here often. We had Fletch speaking before the game. He has been part of one of the best teams for Man United in the past years and he’s been here three times at Wembley for the FA Cup, he played 12 years for the club, he was in the most successful part of the club in the last years.

“It shows you how big it is to be in the FA Cup, how difficult it is and now, obviously, we have to be frustrated at the way the game ended up but, at the same time, proud again to be in the FA Cup final. Hopefully, we are going to do it differently to last season.”

Despite advancing, United’s performance still drew fierce criticism.

However Fernandes insisted: “But we have to be happy.

“It’s two years in a row we have reached a final, we know how difficult it is to get to the final of the FA Cup. Obviously, we wanted to get there in a different way. For the first 70 minutes, we were so good, we controlled the game and then obviously well done to them.

“They believed, they gave everything to get back into the game – and they did it.

“We have to have huge respect for what Coventry did, but we had everything on our side to get a comfortable result.”

Fernandes admitted that losing that “comfortable” position is a cause for concern, even allowing for United having a makeshift back four, with Harry Maguire and Casemiro in central defence.

Fernandes added: “It’s like some moments, you can probably relax yourself for a little bit, not make the pressure as strong as you should.

“The game starts to get a little more split, more spaces. Sometimes we might have to get a little bit deeper, be more compact and not give much space to them.”