Chelsea face Manchester City in a 3pm kick-off at the national stadium with silverware on the line, the chance to lift club football’s oldest trophy, the FA Cup.

Crucial to our chances of success will be our ability to break down Man City’s rearguard, a task in which, one would assume, both Joao Pedro and Palmer are likely to play a big part in McFarlane’s plans.

For the Brazilian international, that could well be in leading the line and spearheading our attack as the central striker, a role he has grown into over the course of the season, having also featured prominently as a No10 behind the centre-forward earlier in his debut campaign with the Blues.

‘Joao's had a great year,’ said our interim head coach, speaking to the media in his pre-match press conference at Cobham on Thursday afternoon before the FA Cup final.

‘He’s played many different positions, but he seems to have settled into that No9 role, and he's got everything you'd want from a top No9.

‘It’s a big summer coming up for him with the World Cup with Brazil, but he's been excellent for Chelsea, and hopefully he continues that for the last three games.’

Palmer is another who has alternated between different roles in our attack at various stages of the season, shifting between the No10 and a position starting wide on the right.

McFarlane is obviously keeping his cards close to his chest about who will be lining up for the Blues when we kick-off and where, when we take on Man City on Saturday, but he was impressed by Palmer’s contribution in the 1-1 draw at Liverpool last time out and is hoping for more of the same.

‘He's had some really good games for us this year,’ Calum continued, when asked about Palmer’s recent performances.

‘He's had a lot of injuries that he's had to deal with, but I was really pleased with Cole on Saturday.

‘I thought he had moments where he showed his level and his quality and we're really hopeful Cole can produce that from now to the end of the season.’