United captain Paul Thirlwell is likely to be the man to lead the players onto the Wembley turf on Sunday and the former Sunderland and Derby midfielder has no doubt that it will be one of the highlights of his career.

He said: "The crowd is expected to be in the region of 70,000, it's at the new Wembley Stadium, and everyone will be there to enjoy it.

"I think it's going to be a fantastic occasion and it's the kind of game that every player wants to be involved in. We have taken this competition seriously from round one and we have sent out strong teams, and we get our reward for that on Sunday.

"The northern area final against Leeds seems like ages ago now. That was a good night, but we had to forget about Wembley as much as possible and get on with important business of picking up points in the league.

"We did that, and our next game is the final against Southampton, so we can really start to enjoy it now.

"Everyone is talking about Southampton as the favourites, and we don't mind that. We know that we can beat anyone if we play the game our way, and there's no question that everyone will be up for it. We'll go out there, do our best and hopefully that will be enough.

"There's no guarantee on the starting line up, but if I do lead the team out then it will be a very proud moment. We've worked hard this season, and to be involved in a game like this is excellent.

"All we want is to go out there and do the fans, the city and ourselves proud, and that should make it an enjoyable weekend for everyone."

United Player subscribers can see a video interview with Paul Thirlwell later today.