Hughes confident of overcoming United

Mark Hughes has admitted he is unsure what kind of side Sir Alex Ferguson will pick for the Carling Cup semi final in January.

United will take on City in two clashes for a chance to got to Wembley to play either Aston Villa or Blackburn Rovers in the final.

Hughes remembers a time when Sir Alex always played his strongest line up in the competition, but in recent times he’s used the Carling Cup to give the youngsters a chance to impress.

“Sir Alex never used to play weakened sides in the competition,” Hughes told sky sports.

“I seem to recall during my time at Blackburn they were a pretty strong side in the semi-final.

“We will have to wait and see. That is his decision.”

Nevertheless, Hughes is confident his City side can beat any eleven players Sir Alex sends out. And he has acknowledged the importance of getting to the final of a competition, after 33 years without a trophy.

“We will enjoy it,” he said. “Over two games we would back ourselves against anybody.

“We want to get to a Wembley final. This club has not had many experiences of that in recent times.”

He insists the club are heading in the right direction, even though recent results would seem to point to the opposite being true. Seven points from the last seven games is what has been garnered from seven straight draws. Whichever way you slice it, one point per game over the course of a season will get you relegated more often than not.

“We are at a point now where we are reasonably pleased with where we are. You can’t deny we are going in the right direction,” Hughes said.

“Comparisons are always made between ourselves and Chelsea. We started from a lot further behind. We need a little bit of time.”

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