Thursday 21 April 2016 14:42, UK
Chris Smalling remains hopeful Manchester United can achieve both of their domestic targets over the remainder of the season.
United have rallied impressively of late, hitting a purple patch of form since manager Louis van Gaal's position came under renewed scrutiny after the recent 3-0 humbling at Tottenham
Overcoming West Ham in last week's FA Cup quarter-final replay started a turnaround that continued with back-to back Premier League wins at home to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
Wednesday's 2-0 win over the Eagles moved United within a point of the top four, and two behind rivals Manchester City, and increased the confidence within the camp ahead of Saturday's semi-final clash with Everton at Wembley.
"I think we've done exactly what we've needed to do," Smalling said. "It's about having Arsenal and City looking over their shoulder and we've put a bit more pressure on.
"I am looking forward to Saturday. It's a great occasion and hopefully we do the job there, get back there again and get two visits."
Damien Delaney's own goal and a fine Matteo Darmian strike did the damage against Palace, but United would have travelled to Wembley buoyed by a grander scoreline were it not for some poor finishing and goalkeeper Julian Speroni's inspired display.
"I think it was a big improvement on Saturday and we controlled it from the start to the finish," Smalling told MUTV.
"We created a lot more chances so now we've got that good feeling going into Saturday. I think we control a lot of the games at Old Trafford but we can sometimes find it difficult to break teams down.
"But getting the early goal, you can see the amount of chances we created after that."
Smalling also allayed any fears he would miss United's Wembley date, and says the injury he suffered late on against Palace was only minor.
"Yeah I'll be fine," Smalling said. "It was just a 50/50 and he has just caught me after, but it's nothing serious."
