Why Manchester City owe their FA Cup run to the power of the collective

While a strong side will start at Wembley on Saturday, a rotating cast has helped propel City through the earlier rounds

Manchester City's Rico Lewis

By the time 3pm rolls around on Saturday at Wembley, few will be thinking back to how the road to the FA Cup final began for Manchester City. It was a bleak January afternoon at the Etihad Stadium, where Huddersfield were dispatched 5-0 as the Premier League champions showed the gulf between them and a side who ended up being relegated from the Championship.

As it custom, Pep Guardiola used the match to rest senior players, giving opportunities to Stefan Ortega, Oscar Bobb and even the rarely-spotted Sergio Gómez, who was permitted the full 90 minutes of the stroll. Micah Hamilton made his first home appearance and Jacob Wright was afforded a debut in a mix-and-match event.