Villa are chasing a first major trophy since 1996 and will have an excellent chance to progress to the final this weekend as they face an Eagles side who are in shaky form. The 32-year-old stressed the occasion is one that must be savoured and enjoyed by the fans who rarely get the opportunity to see their side perform at Wembley.
“I think we let the fans enjoy that. The FA Cup semi-final and going far in the Champions League, all those things are really important for the fans to enjoy.
“There’s a different atmosphere around the club, there’s a different feeling.
“But the only difference for players is that you use a different ball, and you play in a different stadium. Everything in terms of preparing for the game will be exactly the same.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I’m really looking forward to a great occasion for the fans. I’m really looking forward to the battle and competing, and hopefully winning.”
In Villa’s three previous meetings this season with manager Oliver Glasner’s team, Villa were eliminated from the Carabao Cup in October, drew the following month’s league encounter 2-2, and lost 4-1 in February’s reverse fixture. Mings says they must use their knowledge of previous games to try and pull one over on Palace.
“It’s a stage of the tournament where you can start thinking about things like that, but we have such a tough opposition in Palace in front of us.
“It’s going to require the knowledge of the games we’ve played against them before, the knowledge of the games that we’ve played against different opposition and how well we know we can play, and also being able to handle the occasion as well.
“Playing in front of 80,000+ people at Wembley is a special but different occasion, and something that your experience will probably help with as well.”
Finally, he spoke on what a huge occasion it is for fans and how he wants to his side to perform at their best to please supporters who will travel hundreds of miles to the game this weekend.
“Fans play a huge part at Wembley as well, because you now have 40,000 of one and 40,000 of the other team.
“That plays a part and you want to give fans something to cheer about. You want to get on the front foot and you want to get them off their seats as well. I think that’s a really special occasion for the fans.”