Young: ‘I was surprised we didn't get City!’

Manchester United defender Ashley Young has already set his sights on reaching the Emirates FA Cup semi-finals and claimed United were ready to face whoever we were drawn against in the next round.

United qualified for the last eight of the competition on Monday night after beating Chelsea 2-0 in the fifth round, thanks to goals from Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba.

After being paired with the Blues and Arsenal in the last two rounds, Young, who is suspended for the tie at Wolves, was fulling expecting another tough tie and feared no-one ahead of the draw.

“I was surprised we didn't get [Manchester] City, that's what we were looking for,” the full-back told reporters after the victory at Stamford Bridge.

Instead, the Reds drew the highest-ranked side left in the competition after the two Manchester clubs, and Young knows it will prove to be another tough test.

“You have to beat every team in the competition [if you want to win it] and that's what we'll do,“ he said. ”We'll go down there to beat them and get through to the semi-finals.”

The former Aston Villa man put in another superb showing on Monday and managed to keep Chelsea’s danger man Eden Hazard quiet for most of the match. It wasn’t just Young who was at the top of his game in the capital and every United player executed their role to perfection against the Blues.

“It was very good to get the win away and the way we did,” explained Young.

“We knew Chelsea's weaknesses and we knew how we wanted to play the game, and I think we did that superbly well from the start until the end. It was magnificent and I think we had another gear to go [into]. That says a lot about us bouncing back from midweek [against Paris Saint-Germain] and getting a result here.

“The first 10/15 minutes were a bit shaky but, after that, we stamped our authority on the game, got the first goal and we were on the front foot from then on, and went out and scored the second and we scored two unbelievable goals. But we had to defend as a team.

“We have been doing that, attacking as a team, defending as a team, and being compact. When you don't concede goals, you win games.”

Pogba was one of the many United stars who impressed at the Bridge and the Frenchman’s well-timed header just before the interval proved to be a dagger to the heart of Chelsea’s hopes of a second-half comeback.

“He's a world-class player,” said Young. “You don't win a World Cup for no reason, but it's not just about Paul, it's a team game and squad game.

“Everyone that started the game, everyone on the bench, the boys that came on were fantastic. Scott [McTominay] was only on for a few minutes but he did his job and played his part. When Andreas [Pereira] and Alexis [Sanchez] came on, they were fantastic as well.

“It's all competition for places and it keeps everyone on their toes. Every day in training, you've got to be giving 100 per cent and everyone wants to be in the team. When you're winning games, everyone wants to be in that team and be part of it.”