Stoke have a miserable recent record
against Sir Alex's men (W0 D0 L6) whereas their record
against the Citizens is far more healthy (W2 D3 L2)-- but Stoke can hardly afford the luxury of
complacency, as getting through Sunday's semi-final will be hard enough,
against a Bolton side whom they beat rather comfortably at The Brittania earlier in the season (2 - 0), and also
pushed them all the way at The Reebok as well before eventually going down 2 - 1.