The Toffees' left-back thinks the burden of glory is much greater for the Red Devils than his team...
Everton can relax and enjoy Sunday's Wembley FA Cup semi-final, thinks England international Leighton Baines, as the pressure to win will be on opponents Manchester United rather than the men from Merseyside.The Toffees are certainly perceived as the underdogs of the occasion, but that is not a label that upsets Baines, as he feels that it removes many of the extra burdens that come with playing for a team like United, many of whose fans expect certain victory every time Sir Alex Ferguson's troops trot onto the field.
"They play in semi-finals every year but this is new for some of us and it's probably a bit more of a big game for us than it is them," the left-back told evertonTV.
"We can go there and hopefully there's not so much pressure on us; people will expect Manchester United to get to the FA Cup final.
"People will be expecting us to get beaten but we won't be expecting that at all. We have been unlucky against them this season."
Baines himself does have some experience of a cup final against United. He was part of the Wigan Athletic outfit that lost in the League Cup showpiece to the Mancunians at Cardiff in 2006, and he thinks that the experince will stand him, and others with similar memories, in good stead on Sunday.
"It's going to play a small part, having been there before," he added."But these are individual games and anything can happen in them.
"We have players like Tim Cahill, and obviously Phil Neville has played in many a cup semi-final, so anyone with those experiences will help us a little bit.
"Tim's not scared of mentioning that he's played in cup final before!" Australian Cahill was in the Millwall side beaten 3-0 by United in the FA Cup final of 2004.
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
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