Pep believes a Wembley victory would instil belief in his brilliant but under-confident City outfit

PEP GUARDIOLA claims his Manchester City players do not have enough self-belief.

Guardiola feels his squad do not realise how good they are and says winning the FA Cup would make them believe.

Guardiola’s admission is surprising, given City’s haul of five major trophies, including two Premier Leagues, since 2011, but he insists it is one of the biggest issues he has faced in his first season in charge.

Despite having talents like Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, he feels they do not believe enough, certainly when he reflects on the dressing rooms he managed at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“We want the FA Cup to put in my players’ heads how good they are,” said the City boss. “I said many times to them, but they still don’t believe how good they are. They are fantastic players and a fantastic team and winning titles helps you a lot.

“Winning helps you win more because you live that experience.

“You win a title or a final – it’s a lot of stress and pressure and if you handle that and you are able to win, the next time is a little easier. That’s why it’s important for the future of the club.”

Guardiola is constantly praising his players to boost their self-belief, even taking this to extremes after the draw with Liverpool when he declared it was one of the happiest days of his life.

The Catalan makes no apologies for his comments and says his players are responding to him.

“I’m so proud of them, especially in the bad moments like how we overcame our defeat in the Champions League against Liverpool,” he added.

“The people laughed and said, ‘Ha, the best performance’, but the people cannot imagine when you are out of the Champions League, to play Liverpool just three days later, who have had a week of rest, be 1-0 down, how we played that game.

“That’s how I want to see my team. Three days later we went to play Arsenal in London and in the first half we played as well as we have all season.”

Guardiola wants another big display from his players against Arsenal in north London, this time at Wembley in tomorrow’s semi-final.

Although City will be missing the injured John Stones, Gabriel Jesus is back from his broken metatarsal and could start.

Guardiola said: “He’s really, really much, much better. We’re going to travel with all the squad to Wembley, and we will see.”