TY’S RELISHING UNDERDOG TAG

now about that first game at the Etihad. He said our players sat in the dressingroom convinced they were going to win. That’s a big statement, going there and expecting to win.

“They’d had some changes, so had we. We made a mistake and they went one up. Then VAR gave them a second. It was a funny one. David Silva touched it in but they gave the goal to Kevin De Bruyne. But David Silva was saying to the referee: ‘It’s my goal, I’ve touched it.’ He was offside. Why the referee didn’t consult VAR I don’t know.

“And we gave them a very big helping

The all-action player remained at Villa until 2003 before moving to Derby County for two seasons, finally ending his career at Northampton Town to mark a 15-year career in the Premier League and Football League.

Dabbled in a sports agency before returning to Villa as a club ambassador, and owns tournament organisers globalfootballpro.com hand in that last game against them when we lost 6-1. But you just sense sometimes there’s a desire to prove people wrong in any dressing-room. The majority of them are like me. My drive has always been to prove people wrong.

“We live in a culture where there’s not a lot of praise that goes around. There are usually people trying to knock you and point out what you can’t do.

“The drive for me – and us - is to prove them wrong.

“And there really aren’t many better places to do it than a domestic cup final at Wembley.”

Was a mainstay at Villa for another three years before finishing his career at Southampton in 2003 following a number of problems with his knee. Draper was involved in property development but returned to the coaching staff at his first club Notts

County until recently.

TYRONE MINGS doesn’t think he can take anything for granted.

Ask him about England and he laughs at the notion he’s a regular. Ask him about Aston Villa and he just says he’s in a better place than he was one year ago.

Ask Mings, 26, about life in football and he reckons he’s living on a knife-edge.

That outlook may be the legacy of a serious knee injury that stalled his career.

Or perhaps the hangover from a run-out for Mick Mccarthy eight years ago when Mings was struggling to make his way.

The Republic of Ireland boss recently recounted the story of when a younger Mings was a part-timer for Chippenham Town and Mccarthy, in charge at Ipswich, set up a trial game for the defender.

Mings was substituted 10 minutes from time. By then Mccarthy had made up his mind that he was going to offer the youngster a professional deal.

But Mings thought he was being elbowed. He recalled: “I wasn’t happy with Mick – not one bit. At the time I was a mortgage advisor, getting up to play in a trial game. I didn’t want to come off.

“I’d played for Chippenham on the Saturday and had this match 48 hours later. I got a knock on my knee so I was hobbling around a bit.

“It appears Mick had made his mind up by that stage – but I didn’t know that when he took me off. No-one wants to come off in a trial.

“And I was very good as a mortgage advisor.

Perhaps better than I was as a footballer. I did it for 10 months and I really enjoyed it.

“That’s where I saw my life going – I was putting everything into a career in financial services.

“I may go back to it when I’m finished.

Look, I’d come from working in a pub – so that was a good step-up. I was earning good money and working with real people.”

Mings (right) might have started in non-league, but he’s right at the sharp end these days.

And it doesn’t come much sharper than after last week’s

The Serbia international joined Zaragoza after falling out with Villa’s fans following a spitting incident at Blackburn. He amassed 91 goals in La Liga in 241 games for four clubs. He went on to play for Parma in Italy and retired having amassed over 100 caps for his country.

Was latterly in charge of Partizan

Belgrade. defeat at Southampton, when Villa boss Dean Smith lost his rag.

Mings said: “He doesn’t do it very often. When he does, it has an impact. We were better in the second-half but that’s not saying much.

“That Southampton game was about as bad as I’ve ever been involved in – and I’ve been in some bad ones – just in terms of how disappointing the performance was.

“There’s no quick fix to make everything right. But then not much has changed at Southampton, and they look like a team transformed. So it can be done.

“The most frustrating thing for us is the inconsistency. It’s almost like we know we can do it – but we don’t do it often enough.

“We’ve got a lot of players who are new to the Premier League, and I include myself in that. We’ve got six to eight players trying to learn on the job. It’s not ideal. But we have to learn, and learn quickly.”

The improvement in performance level will have to be off-the-scale if Manchester City are to be derailed this afternoon.

Mings knows it. He said: “It’s going to be tough – absolutely it is. There’s no hiding from it. But, at the same time, what a fantastic opportunity.

“Perhaps it would be harder to play against someone you’d underestimate. We know we have to bring our A-game – anything less could lead to embarrassment.

“But we have a good track record with big teams and big occasions. The Tottenham game last week, the first half against Manchester City at their place, the Liverpool game at home, the Play-off Final... it will be a great day for the club.” For all his caution about his place in the game, Mings knows how to enjoy the big successes when they come.

He famously went AWOL in his replica Villa shirt after the club won the Play-off final last May. The celebrations went on throughout the night, and the defender was pictured on social media in the shirt at Bournemouth train station on the morning following the triumph.

He cautioned: “That was the end of the season and if we beat City I doubt the same would happen... but, you know, never say never!”

Joined Manchester United for £12.6m and became a core part of their treble-winning side in 1999. Retired from the game 10 years later after spells with Blackburn and Sunderland. Became assistant manager of Trinidad and Tobago but his turbulent relationship with model Katie Price made him headline news again.