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Wembley Stadium — London    May 11, 2013   KO 5:15 PM BST

By Oliver Platt

Yaya Toure has declared himself fit to start at the heart of Manchester City’s midfield in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Wigan.

The Ivorian missed City’s midweek victory over West Brom but has been training throughout the week after being brought off at half-time against Swansea last weekend.

Scott Sinclair is unavailable after undergoing surgery on a blood clot in his shoulder but otherwise Roberto Mancini has a fully fit squad to choose from.

Wigan, on the other hand, are currently decimated by injury problems. Ivan Ramis will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury while fellow centre-back Antolin Alcaraz faces a race to be fit having suffered a hamstring tear last month.

Jean Beausejour (hamstring) is also a doubt and Maynor Figueroa’s season has been ended by a groin problem, so Roberto Martinez is likely to continue with a flat back four.

To add to their woes, Ronnie Stam suffered a suspected broken leg less than a minute after coming off the bench in the 3-2 defeat to Swansea on Tuesday. Albert Crusat (knee) is a longer-term absentee.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Manchester City will be looking to lift the FA Cup for the sixth time on Saturday, which would draw them level with Newcastle and Blackburn on the all-time winners’ list and put them within touching distance of seven-time winners Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa.
  • Under Roberto Mancini, City ended a trophy drought stretching back to 1976 when they won the FA Cup in 2011. They followed it up with the Premier League title a year later.
  • Carlos Tevez (pictured right) is the top active goalscorer in this season’s competition with five goals, trailing only Aldershot’s Danny Hylton (eight) overall, but Mancini has suggested Edin Dzeko will start in attack and Sergio Aguero (pictured right) is also available.
  • In reverse order, City have seen off Chelsea, Barnsley, Leeds, Stoke and Watford to reach the final. They did not concede a goal until their semi-final meeting with Rafa Benitez’s team.
  • Wigan have never won a top-flight competition in their 81-year history. Their last trophy was the Second Division (now League One) title in 2002-03.
  • The Latics have seen off Millwall, Everton, Huddersfield, Macclesfield and Bournemouth en route to the final. They needed a replay to see off the Cherries in the third round, but have conceded only two goals in six matches.
  • Jordi Gomez and Callum McManaman top the FA Cup goalscoring charts for Martinez’s team, having bagged three goals each so far.
  • If Wigan were to win at Wembley and finish the Premier League season in their current position of 18th, they would be the lowest-ranked side to win the FA Cup since West Ham in 1980. The Hammers were in the second tier when they beat Arsenal.

 

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