Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has insisted that his side have to avoid the fate of Wigan Athletic after advancing to the final of the FA Cup.
The Latics won the competition in 2013 as they shocked Manchester City in the final, but they were unable to avoid the drop into the Championship in the weeks that followed their triumph.
Sherwood's men find themselves in a similar position to Wigan, and the 46-year-old has warned his team that they have to secure their Premier League status before they can cast their eye on their clash against Arsenal at Wembley on May 30.
He told reporters: "Wigan is good to use as an example. It is not what anyone enjoys. We certainly won't be enjoying that trip to Wembley if we are not a Premier League club at that time.
"We realise we have a lot of hard work to do. We obviously want to win the FA Cup and nothing is going to get in the way of that.
"But at the same time, we definitely still need to be in the Premier League. We will use everything we can to warn the players against complacency. But really their motivation should be that if they want to play in an FA Cup final, they have to prove their worth to me in the league games remaining."
Villa face Manchester City at Villa Park later today.
Simon Sinclair
