McFarlane backs Chelsea to overcome Wembley hoodoo in FA Cup final

May 14 : Chelsea caretaker manager Calum McFarlane dismissed speculation regarding his permanent successor on Thursday, insisting his sole focus remains on ending the club's domestic trophy drought in Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City.

McFarlane's side head to Wembley seeking to overturn a dismal run in domestic finals, having lost their last six appearances at the national stadium.

Chelsea have also failed to beat Pep Guardiola's side in their last 13 meetings in all competitions.

Despite English media reports linking Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso and other high-profile candidates to the Stamford Bridge vacancy, McFarlane told reporters he was only interested in guiding Chelsea to victory at Wembley.

"There's a lot of names linked with the job," McFarlane said. "It's not really my place to say who should get it, or who's a good manager. My job is to prepare the team for Saturday and that's all I'll be focusing on."

McFarlane received a boost in his squad availability with defenders Reece James and Levi Colwill both training fully this week following successful rehabilitation periods.

"Reece trained well this week, happy with him," McFarlane said. "It's a similar story with Levi Colwill. We are hopeful they can finish the season in this form."

The manager also confirmed that attackers Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho, along with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, have shown "positive signs" in training and are expected to be available for the Wembley showpiece.

Chelsea have not won a domestic trophy since the 2018 FA Cup triumph over Manchester United, but McFarlane was adamant his side could cause an upset.

"City are an exceptional side with an exceptional coach, but these players have shown that if they're at their