Wembley experience will give us advantage at EFL Cup final: Smalling

“A final is a special match and he’s an option for me”.

Midfield: Ander Herrera will make his return to the starting eleven after being suspended for the Europa League second leg at Saint-Etienne on Wednesday night.

Manchester United and Southampton meet at Wembley on February 26, with kick-off scheduled for 4.30pm. United hold a far superior record with 62 wins to the Saints’ 28, while there has been 29 draws.

It would be a massive blow for the Old Trafford outfit to have both Mkhitaryan and Carrick missing from the cup final.

Hughes said: ”It’s evenly matched but I would just say that United have got the edge”.

However, it is impossible not to be incredibly impressed by the way that they have raised their game for the EFL Cup this season.

“It’s a good moment for the fans and I hope we can give them pleasure”.

That said, he admitted in the build-up he will go with a strong enough XI to make sure there are no slip-ups and a dominating start – opposed to the one last week – from which they could nick a goal could make for a much more relaxed evening at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The sale of captain Jose Fonte, and season-ending injury to his successor Virgil van Dijk has put a major dent in their campaign, with a usually solid back-four now looking vulnerable.

Southampton go into Sunday’s EFL Cup final against Manchester United as slight underdogs to lift just the second major trophy in their history.

A 1-0 victory in France came at a price, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick were both injured and have been ruled out against Southampton.

In the other main talking point from an entertaining press conference, he revealed that Wayne Rooney would definitely be involved against Claude Puel’s side. This is because of the fact that he has been reported to have undergone an emergency tooth surgery.

“No, [there was no fall out] no I think it was a football reason or a style or something like that but we never had a personal problem”.

The form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba will be crucial for the team, as will be the role of Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford on the flanks. United enters as the heavy favorite and is expected to win.

The Red Devils reached this year’s cup competition for the first time since 2010 following their 3-2 victory on aggregate over Hull City after 180 minutes of action.

TV Listings: The Manchester United vs Southampton encounter in the EFL Cup 2016-17 Final will be telecasted live on Ten 2 and Ten 1 HD in India, on Sky Sports 1/HD UK in the UK and on fuboTV in the USA. He has 24 goals in 37 matches for United this season.