Daily Times

Ruben Dias considers the Carabao Cup showdown with Tottenham just the first of several ‘finals’ for Manchester City before the end of the season.

City head to Wembley on Sunday looking to win the League Cup for a fourth season in succession.

It could be the first of three pieces of silverware for the club this term as they also close in on the Premier League title and prepare for the Champions League semi-finals.

Up until last week City were even in contention for four trophies, but their bid for an unprecedented quadruple ended with their FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea.

“We start the season with the opportunity to win it all and the more you can push it to the end, the better you are doing,” said defender Dias. “Obviously, we were not happy about the FA Cup semi-final, but you have just got to hang on tight and keep moving forward because we are still in three competitions. “It was a hard punch for us, but that is just football, that is the way it is. You win or you lose and, because we have been so good so far, now it is all finals. Every game is a final.”

Sunday’s showpiece is followed by the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Paris St Germain in the French capital. City, who need a maximum of eight points to claim their third domestic league crown in four years, then travel to Crystal Palace next Saturday. They currently have an 11-point lead at the top of the table, although they have played a game more than second-placed Manchester United.

Dias, who has enjoyed an outstanding first season at the Etihad Stadium since his club record £64.3million signing last year, says it is important not to look too far ahead.

The Portugal international said: “Obviously we have an idea of how the league table is, but our main focus is just on winning the next one and the next one. Final after final.

“When we had two more games and had a bigger gap, we knew it, but we knew we had the games in advance and we never got ahead of ourselves. We have always kept our feet on the ground, like now.”