Pep Guardiola has confirmed that goalkeeper Stefan Ortega will start for Manchester City in Saturday's FA Cup final against rivals Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.
The 30-year-old arrived at the Etihad Stadium on a free transfer from Armenia Bielefeld last summer and has provided cover for first-choice shot-stopper Ederson throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
Nevertheless, Ortega has been an integral part of City's success en route to the FA Cup final, keeping five clean sheets in as many matches which is more than any other goalkeeper in this season's competition.
The Citizens managed to navigate their way past fellow Premier League sides Chelsea and Arsenal in rounds three and four, before eliminating Championship trio Bristol City, Burnley and Sheffield United to set up a Manchester derby showpiece event at Wembley.
As a reward for his impressive displays in the FA Cup, Guardiola has confirmed that Ortega, who has kept 10 clean sheets in total in 13 games for Man City across all competitions, will be handed the gloves on Saturday.
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Speaking at a pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola said: "Yeah [Ortega] is going to play.
"I have always been like that in the FA Cup. At Barcelona and Bayern Munich as well. The keeper who plays in the FA Cup is going to play."
Ortega stated in January that he relishes playing for Man City in the big matches of such a historic competition.
"It's better to play these teams rather than those who are in the second or third leagues," the German told reporters following City's 1-0 fourth-round win over Arsenal.
"For me I don't have so many games, so these types of games are perfect for me. I really enjoy these games. The cup has real history and for me it's the way to get games so it's really exciting."
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Guardiola has also confirmed that Citizens quartet Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji have all taken part in training this week and should be fit to feature on Saturday.
There were initial fears about the condition of all four players who were absent from last weekend's 1-0 Premier League loss at Brentford due to unspecified injury and fitness issues.
However, Guardiola has since provided a positive update, telling reporters: "They trained well last two sessions. They are all of them more or less fine."
Man City will endeavour to keep their treble-winning hopes alive when they walk out under the arch of Wembley against bitter rivals Man United, who won the EFL Cup earlier this season courtesy of a 2-0 win over Newcastle United.
Oliver Thomas
