Manchester United v West Ham: Mata eyes Wembley spot to banish Liverpool blues

The midfielder wants to seize the chance of sealing a return to Wembley as the Red Devils host the Irons in the FA Cup quarter-finals

Juan Mata is desperate for Manchester United to put their Liverpool defeat behind them with an FA Cup quarter-final win over West Ham.

A 2-0 setback at Anfield on Thursday has left Louis van Gaal's side on the brink of an exit from the Europa League and delivered another damaging blow to an inconsistent season.

United were dumped out of the FA Cup at the last-eight stage to eventual winners Arsenal last term, but host a West Ham side on Sunday who have not won at Old Trafford in their last nine visits in all competitions.

And Mata is eager to restore some pride by sealing a spot in a Wembley semi-final with a fifth home win in a row.

"It was not a good performance and not a good result obviously," Mata told MUTV. "But we need to move on, we need to win on Sunday. It is a chance to play at Wembley again and a chance to win a title.

"The FA Cup is very special for all of us and it is against a very good team like West Ham. We need to recover as soon as possible and then focus just on the FA Cup. Then, after the weekend, we can look at the Europa League again."


West Ham dispatched Blackburn Rovers 5-1 in the previous round and followed that with three consecutive PREMIER LEAGUE victories - the last of which saw them come from 2-0 down to defeat Everton 3-2.

Source: http://www.goal.com