Edwin van der Sar feels no extra pressure as he looks to complete his Man Utd medal collection.
Van der Sar feels no extra pressure over silverware
Edwin van der Sar feels no extra pressure as he looks to complete his Manchester United medal collection in his final season.
The veteran Dutch goalkeeper will hang up his gloves this summer to bring an end to a glittering career which has seen him secure a stunning haul of silverware.
Having lost out to Chelsea in the Red Devils' last final four years ago, Saturday's FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City holds particular significance as a winners' medal in the FA Cup is the only one missing from Van der Sar's time with the club.
But the respected shot-stopper is well aware that Saturday's game is just another step on the road to glory rather than the end of anything in itself.
"An FA Cup medal is missing from my collection but I am not going into the game more focused or tense because of that," he said.
Normal
"At the end of tomorrow's game there is no medal or honour. It is just a semi-final.
"Obviously, it would be a great achievement to reach the final and give ourselves a chance of winning the tournament but at the moment I am not that bothered.
"We are a good team and we challenge for honours virtually every year.
"That is why we have quality players who will push us towards ending the season with a trophy or a big prize.
"It is almost normal that you come to days like this. Then it is the case of finding your form to make it count."
Quality
Van der Sar is expected to keep his place at Wembley, having made his first appearance in this season's competition during the quarter-final victory over Arsenal last month.
He is expecting a fairly raucous atmosphere from a capacity 90,000 crowd. And he accepts City pose a far more formidable threat than when he first moved north from Fulham in the summer of 2005.
"The derby has always been good," he said. "But it is a little bit more emphasised now because of the money that City have been spending in the last few years and the quality players they are bringing in.
"Maybe for them, the game is not played with the heart quite so much and more with their quality players.
"We have plenty of them as well though and hopefully they can make a difference for our team as they have done in the last couple of games."
