• Midfielder says battle on all fronts keeps large squad happy
• Lopes dreams of final appearance at Wembley

Marcos Lopes is dreaming of playing at Wembley in the Capital One Cup final for Manchester City and winning the first of what he believes can be a clean sweep of the season’s four major trophies.

The 18-year-old attacking midfielder, who starred in City’s 3-0 semi-final second-leg win at West Ham United on Tuesday night, feels that an unprecedented quadruple is on for his club. After featuring in the third-round win over Wigan Athletic and the first leg of the West Ham tie, the Brazilian-born Portuguese hopes to have done enough to make Manuel Pellegrini’s squad for the final on 2 March.

“If we are in all four competitions, we can win all four competitions,” Lopes said, reflecting the confidence at the club. “We will see. We go game to game and try to win every game. I think we can do it because we have too much quality in this team and we can make things that have never been done before.

“It would be good if we won all of these trophies and our team is capable of doing this. People say that this competition is not important but we don’t care about that. We just want to win the competitions this season. It is a dream for every player to play at Wembley and I hope that I can be there to help the team. It is up to the manager. I am just going to do my work.”

Lopes has made only four first-team appearances for City; his debut was for Roberto Mancini in the FA Cup last season, when he came on as a late substitute to score in the 3-0 win over Watford. But he showed his quality and commitment at Upton Park, contributing to City’s first two goals.

Pellegrini has used 22 players en route to the Capital One Cup final and Lopes, who joined from Benfica in 2011, believes that City’s battle on four fronts has helped to keep their many players happy. “It is because we are in all the competitions, so it is easier for all the players to play,” Lopes said.

“The manager is good, also, at keeping everyone happy. He helps the players a lot. He is good to work with. It was very good to play at West Ham and I feel very confident. I don’t know if I can play more Premier League games but I will just do my job and hope to get more opportunities.”

• Manchester City
• Capital One Cup

David Hytner

theguardian.com