Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City team selection in the Carabao Cup final was to reward the players in his squad who haven't played as much this season.
Guardiola made eight changes from the side that beat Real Madrid in midweek, with Phil Foden and David Silva starting ahead of Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva. There were also starts for John Stones, Claudio Bravo, Aleks Zinchenko and David Silva.
Foden started in rounds three, four and five of the competition, but was on the bench for both semi-final legs against Manchester United, coming off the bench to play just four minutes.
However, Guardiola has given Foden and some of his teammates a huge show of faith by recalling them to the City starting line-up for the showpiece final against Aston Villa at Wembley.
And he explained before kick off that he made the changes to 'make everyone feel involved'.
"It's better to be here than not be here," he told Sky Sports.
"I trust a lot with all the squad and I wanted to make everybody feel involved. That's why. I pick a selection to win the game, that's fresh, for mentality."
After City's impressive 2-1 comeback win at Real Madrid on Wednesday also played a part in the decision to rest the likes of De Bruyne, Bernardo and Gabriel Jesus.
He continued: "It was such a demanding game in Madrid, not just physically, mentally. We decide this competition play normally many, many players and maybe a quarter of them don't play.
"I think one game at a time. So I prepare Madrid then after we come back, the day after I start to think about the final.
"Finals are unpredictable and also they play the final for the first time since a long, long time ago. I would say as much finals you play the more comfortable you are but every final is different."
