The final is upon us and Our Road to Wembley feature ends with a look ahead to Stoke v Man City.
The final is upon us as we follow Stoke on their big day at Wembley
The final is upon us and Our Road to Wembley feature ends with a look ahead to Stoke City versus Manchester City.
We started out some seven months ago on a wet night in Rochdale when we witnessed FC United's dramatic triumph at Spotland.
From there we moved onto Brighton after they dumped out the non-leaguers and we stayed with Gus Poyet's men as they claimed the scalps of Watford and Portsmouth.
Stoke City was one match too far the League One champions and we have been with the Potters ever since, seeing them claim victories over Premier League rivals West Ham and Bolton to book their place at Wembley.
Now Manchester City lie in wait, so there is a nice symmetry as we started with one Manchester side and are now finishing with another.
But Tony Pulis' Stoke are our side and
Sky Sports spoke with Stoke's first team coach Gerry Francis ahead of the big day.
Normal game
"What Tony has done is that we have treated it like a normal game, and because we have been to Wembley in the semi-final, I think that makes a difference," Francis revealed.
"We have tried to make it like an ordinary game, and the players have done fantastic.
"We are playing a top quality side, we are still waiting on a few players, but we will give them [Robert Huth and Matthew Etherington] both the opportunity to make it and we will wait until the day.
"Matty has been training for some time now and having different treatments. Robert has had some injections in his knee and we will have to decide and maybe leave it to Saturday morning."
Francis feels Pulis will know what side he will go with dependent on their injuries.
"I think he has all avenues in mind, with Matty and Robert and without, so he has a number of teams in his mind and it depends who comes through the fitness test.
"The semi-final really helped us to settle, as many of our players had not played there before so we are obviously excited and looking forward to the game.
"Man City are a top, top side. They have got a tremendous squad so we realise on paper it is a tough, tough, ask, but as you know the people at Stoke never give up. We ate in a different hotel and hopefully it will be lucky.
"On the day we have to play to 110 per cent of our ability and hope we catch Man City not on their best, but anything can happen in cup finals, anything can happen on the day, there is a lot of fortune in football.
"I am looking forward to the day and I hope for everyone's sake that we can pull it off."
City in their sights
Pulis himself has faced City at Wembley previously when he was Gillingham boss, but in that dramatic play-off final he went away empty-handed and heart-broken and he had not been back until the semi-finals this year.
"I had made my mind up. Unless I was taking a team back, I wouldn't be going there," he said.
"I was absolutely devastated for the players.
"But we are in a Cinderella situation, but we will give it our best shot like we always do.
"Look at the comparison between the two clubs.
"They have spent £380m and you just look at their wage bill and the players.
"They are now in a situation where they are not far short of pushing the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, so we know how difficult it is going to be."
And what a day Saturday will be for Stoke chairman Peter Coates,
