Luke Shaw insisted reaching the EFL Cup final means nothing for Manchester United if they do not go on to win the trophy.
A 2-0 victory at Old Trafford on Wednesday resulted in a comfortable 5-0 aggregate scoreline in the semi-final against Nottingham Forest, booking a date at Wembley against Newcastle United on February 26.
It hands United the chance to end a six-year trophy drought, having not celebrated success since an EFL Cup and Europa League double in the 2016-17 season.
The victory, secured thanks to second-half goals from Anthony Martial and Fred, also continues United s resurgence under the guidance of Erik ten Hag, but Shaw believes it is a meaningless accomplishment unless the trophy is lifted.
There s no point going to a final if you don t win it, he told Sky Sports.
It s a massive opportunity for us, it s where we want to be, playing in big games, in big finals, getting this club back to where it should be, challenging for trophies.
We ve now got a big one against Newcastle. They re an extremely good team and it s going to be a very tough game, but it s a big moment for us in where we want to go.
Bring on Wembley.
Bring on the final.
BRING ON UNITED!
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
United have come close to success during recent years, including losing in the Europa League final to Villarreal in the 2020-21 campaign.
Bruno Fernandes, who captained United and played a full part in the second leg against Forest, is hoping for a better return this time.
It s obviously really good. For me, it s been three years at the club, we reached one final and, unfortunately, we didn t win that one, he said.
But now we have another chance. Before that, there are a lot of games coming so we have to focus on that.
I m really happy for the performance of the team, for the goals we created.
We had more chances and we could have scored more but I think they defended very well. It was tough to get into their defence but we did it, we won and we ve got into the final.
