The selection of Jamie O’Hara in the Tottenham Hotspur team would mark an emotional turnaround for the youngster, who broke down in tears when he was left out of the squad that defeated Chelsea 2-1 in the Carling Cup final a year ago. The midfield player showed enough strength and fitness on his return from a thigh injury on Thursday to suggest that he is capable of starting, at the expense of David Bentley. He played 71 minutes of the 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Uefa Cup last 32, second leg.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, has highlighted the significant contribution O'Hara made against Burnley in the semi-final, first leg, when Tottenham trailed 1-0. He scored one and made two more goals as Tottenham won 4-1 at White Hart Lane. A year before, he was pictured in floods of tears soon after he was told by Juande Ramos, the former head coach, that he would not be playing against Chelsea in the final. Most of his family and friends left Wembley before kick-off.

“It showed I was passionate about the club and passionate about missing out,” he said. “A young lad wants to play at Wembley, so that was a sad day for me. Hopefully, if I can be involved this year it can be tears of joy. I was disappointing for me, I was gutted not to be involved and so if I get a chance this year it will be a dream for me, because missing out last year was probably the low point of my career so far so I am hoping this can be the high point. I had 22 tickets last year, this year I’ve got 34. I’ve got all my family coming over from Ireland.

“Maybe this year I may try and keep my emotions to myself. Last year I didn’t know anybody was filming me, I only found out afterwards. My dad told me I had been caught on the TV having a bit of a sob up, he was trying to make me feel a bit better and at the time he said ‘look, these things happen in life and you just have to deal with it.’”

O’Hara, whose inclusion would free Luka Modric to play behind a central striker, added: “I’ve matured and feel an established part of the squad, and I feel my game is coming on and on.

“Obviously I want to be involved. Manchester United will go into the game as favourites but we’ve started to pick up now and started to get some good results. The lads have got to relax. Playing against Paul Scholes, a big idol of mine, is what I dreamed about as a lad. Playing against Man United at Wembley is something every kid dreams of.”