Manchester City midfielder James Milner believes they're in the boxseat going into their FA Cup semi with Chelsea.

Milner feels that an FA Cup triumph could add some shine to what has been a disappointing season in the Premier League.

"We came back from the international break and had two good performances and that's a real boost going into a semi-final," he said.

"Chelsea will be tough but they seem to be up and down, they have great spells and low spells. On their day they are a very strong team but if we play like we did against United I'm sure we'll get a win.

"Chelsea go to Russia this week and hopefully they'll still have that in their legs on Sunday. I'm sure they won't use that as an excuse, they have experienced players who are used to travelling around, playing for their countries. But it's an extra game in their legs that we won't have.

"We put in a big effort against United but hopefully we can recover for the rest of the week and get ourselves to another final. It's not a bad season at all. Obviously we wanted to retain the title and it looks unlikely now.

"But winning trophies is a habit and we've managed to do that in the last couple of years.

"We need to keep doing that, keep that momentum. The FA Cup is a great trophy, you dream of winning it - if we can do it then it won't be a bad season."