Ferguson no fan of Wembley semis

Alex Ferguson is not a fan of using Wembley as an FA Cup semi-final venue.

The Manchester United manager has never lost at this stage of the competition and is hoping to maintain his 100% record tomorrow when his team tackle Everton.

But his memories of 1994, when the Red Devils drew with Oldham at Wembley thanks to Mark Hughes’ memorable last-gasp equaliser, are not particularly fond.

“The FA have obviously got to pay off Wembley, which is the reason the game is down there,” said Ferguson.

“Getting to the final should be the reward and the incentive for every footballer in the game.

“At one stage you could only play at Wembley by reaching the FA Cup final.

“We didn’t have play-offs or anything. It lost that real feeling of getting to the top of the tree by reaching Wembley.

“With so many games there already you can understand why they utilise it for semi-finals as well. But it is hard when the final is there as well.”