O'Shea Hails Team Display

John O'Shea says the players repaid their manager's faith after sealing a Champions League final spot with a 6-1 aggregate win over Schalke.

The Reds already held a 2-0 advantage after an excellent first leg display and, despite there being nine changes to the side that won in Germany, Sir Alex's men followed it up with another fine performance at Old Trafford.

"It was a very important performance from the team," O'Shea told MUTV. "Obviously against Arsenal we didn't have the usual intensity that we would have liked so the manager decided to freshen things up to make sure we can fully focus on Chelsea.

"I'm sure there were a few eyebrows raised beforehand [when the team was announced] but that's where the manager has faith in the team and the squad, and it was important that we repaid him and put in a quality performance. We did that and showed him he has a great squad to pick from.

O'Shea played in the 2009 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona and is looking forward to a rematch at Wembley later this month.

"It's going to be a fantastic occasion," beamed John. "We saw how well Barcelona played against Madrid and we'll need to play well. It's a great occasion to look forward to, but we can put that to one side now and focus on regaining the Premier League title."