FA Cup Preview: Arsenal - Asto Villa

After keeping Aston Villa in the Premier League,
Tim Sherwood shifts his focus to lifting the FA
Cup in Saturday's final against Arsenal.
Tim Sherwood believes all the pressure will be o
Arsenal when he leads his Aston Villa side out at
Wembley in the FA Cup final.
Arsenal lifted the trophy last season with a 3-2
win over Hull City after extra time, and will start
Saturday's game as favourites having finished
third in the Premier League.
Villa, by contrast, finished one place above the
relegation zone, with Sherwood's appointment in
February proving crucial to the club securing
survival.
A rejuventated Villa upset the odds by beating
Liverpool 2-1 in their semifinal last month, and
the former Tottenham boss sees no reason why
his side cannot repeat the feat this weekend.
"To be part of an FA Cup final is a fantastic
achievement for this football club. I'm very
proud," said Sherwood. "The pressure is on
Arsenal. It's a one-off game and form goes out
the window. They've been there and done it
before. We're not going there to make up the
numbers. The boys performed in the semifinal. I
hope we can do the same. I know what the boys
are capable of in one-off games. On big occasion
they've produced the goods and we need to do it
one more time."
Sherwood added: "I believe we're going to get a
performance like we put in against Liverpool. We
intend to take the game to them.
"The boys know they can make history. Someone
can be a hero in there. It's an opportunity for
everyone to write the history books again."
Villa has gone 58 years without lifting the FA Cup
while its most recent final appearance in 2000 -
the last final at the old Wembley - ended in a 1-
defeat to Chelsea.
Arsenal, meanwhile, is bidding to become the
most successful side in the competition's history
with its 11 victories to date matched only by
Manchester United.
Manager Arsene Wenger has overseen five of
those triumphs, and the Frenchman gave little
away when discussing his likely team selection
for Saturday's meeting.
"It is important to focus as a whole squad on
winning the trophy," said Wenger. "Most of the
time the heroes are the people who come on in a
FA Cup final - they make the difference. That's
why it is important as a reward for the whole
team who have fought very hard the whole
season to get there. Let's deal with it as a whol
squad. I have some big selection decisions to
make on Saturday. Even to leave some top
internationals out of the squad shows that we
have a very big squad."
Wenger added: "What is important is that we do
not make too many individual cases before the
cup final. It's the whole team who can win it.
"I don't know who will start yet and it’s not
important because it's just on the day in the FA
Cup final. What is important is that you bring the
trophy back. It's always a concern for the whole
squad."
Wenger will be without striker Danny Welbeck,
who is suffering with a knee injury, although
Mathieu Debuchy (hamstring) and Mikel Arteta
(ankle) are in contention.
For Villa, Shay Given and Kieran Richardson are
back in training after respective groin and calf
problems while Jores Okore (knee) and Libor
Kozak (back) are doubtful.