Diogo Dalot has revealed his ambition to win the FA Cup after calling it the “most special” competition to play in.
The Portuguese will hope to be involved this evening as Manchester United set off on the road to Wembley with their third round tie against Aston Villa.
It’s certainly a difficult start for Ralf Rangnick’s side, who will have a point to prove amid the recent report of unrest at Old Trafford, and Harry Maguire’s suggestion of crisis talks amid more poor performances.
The cup could prove a welcome distraction for United from their efforts to try and secure a top four finish in the Premier League. The competition also represents their best chance to end the club's near five-year wait for a trophy.
And having experienced the competition’s charms over the last few years, including scoring his first United goal in the rout two years ago at Tranmere, Dalot is keen to finally lift his first piece of silverware.
“We’re facing a good team and we need to be at our best level to go through to the next round,” Dalot told the club’s website.
“We want to start this competition well. We’re playing to win every single competition.
“I can’t lie – it would be a fantastic achievement for me if I could win an FA Cup for this club and hopefully we can lift the trophy at the end of the season.”
Reflecting on his experiences in the cup, Dalot added: “After playing a few cup games now in different leagues and in different countries, then I’d say the FA Cup is probably the most special one you can play in, because of the history it has and the atmosphere you have in these kinds of games.
“I remember it (Tranmere) was a very tough pitch to play on, probably one of the worst pitches I’ve played on, but we went there with the right mentality.
“Sometimes it’s not easy to play these types of games on these types of pitches when you’re used to playing on very high-quality pitches, but we went there with the right mentality and energy and we had some very good goals there.
“I remember Harry’s goal was fantastic, then to score my goal was a very good feeling and I have that shirt [from the game] framed to mark my first Man United goal, and I will remember that day forever.”
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