It’s our last match before a quadruple-header with Chelsea that starts with next Saturday’s League Cup final and includes a two-legged Champions League tie and WSL clash.
Despite that crucial period looming on the horizon, Taylor refuted any suggestion that his players could be distracted before this weekend’s last-eight game.
“For me it’s really easy. As coaches, we’re so focused on this,” he said in Friday’s press conference.
“We know what an opportunity it is to be in the hat for the semi-finals. We are really not looking beyond this game at all.
Managing this week has been one of the toughest parts of the season when we had two tough away games on difficult surfaces where we’ve not been able to play our strongest teams but we aimed for this game as being the ideal scenario to be as strong as we can.
“When you do that, it shows you’re focusing on the cup final next week or the Champions League after that. For us it’s an easy one, for the players it’s always making sure that they’re focusing on the next challenge.
“We’re not huge in numbers at the moment and hopefully we can get some good situations going into the final that competition for places is high.
“The important thing is they give themselves the opportunity to play in that final by doing the job this weekend.”
Watch the full press conference at the top of the page...
City v Aston Villa FA Cup preview
The Official Man City app will provide all coverage when we host Aston Villa at the Joie Stadium.
Minute-by minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre 90 minutes before the game.
Also during the game you can listen to a live audio commentary while our text commentary continues.
Make sure you have push notifications on so you can be alerted by all the key moments of goals, red cards and team news.
Highlights of the game and a full CITY+ replay will be available midday on Monday 10 March.
