• Manchester City vs Barnsley, FA Cup

Delap wants City revenge

ESPN staff
March 8, 2013
Rory Delap wants revenge over Manchester City © Getty Images
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Barnsley's on-loan Stoke midfielder Rory Delap has said he wants to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals to erase the memory of losing the final to them with the Potters in 2010.

Delap, 36, was part of the Stoke side that crushed Bolton 5-0 in the semi-finals but then fell to a Yaya Toure goal in the final. He had also suffered the disappointment of missing the 2003 final through injury during his days at Southampton.

Barnsley travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening in the bottom three of the Championship and seen by many pundits as being without a chance against the defending Premier League champions.

But both spirit and results at Oakwell have improved under new boss David Flitcroft, and Delap hopes that can help him gain a measure of revenge.

"It was a high [to get to the final with Stoke], but one of the lowest moments in my career when the final whistle went," he said.

"Everyone wants to get there, but to get there and lose isn't a great feeling. The semi-final will go down as one of the best memories of my career.

"When we scored the third and knew we were going to win, you could enjoy the game. For the last 20 minutes, you could soak up the atmosphere."

But the Potters failed to reach anything like those heights in the final against City as Mancini's men won the club's first major trophy for 35 years.

"For whatever reason, we didn't look like ourselves," Delap said. "We were a bit lethargic. We were carrying a couple of injuries, but that wasn't an excuse.

"It was a bit of a scrappy game - then Yaya Toure managed to get one in, and to be honest we never looked like getting back into it. It just didn't happen for us that day."

He said his frustration had been deepened by the impression that City had "been there for the taking" and that the final whistle had left him feeling he "just wanted to get out" of Wembley as soon as possible.

"You don't want to speak to anyone, you just want to see the kids and the family," he said. "It was pretty emotional."

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