MANCHESTER United manager Jose Mourinho is hoping his side can go head-to-head with rivals Manchester City next season but admits it will be “difficult.”

The Red Devils booked their place in this season’s FA Cup final following a 2-1 win over Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday.

Spurs, playing as the away team at the ground they have called home this season while their new stadium is being built, took a deserved lead through Dele Alli on 11 minutes, the midfielder converting a Christian Eriksen cross from close range.

United were level 13 minutes later when man of the match Alexis Sanchez, who was booed by the Spurs supporters throughout having previously played for their rivals Arsenal, headed a floated Paul Pogba cross in at the far post.

Ander Herrera booked his side a place in a record-equalling 20th FA Cup final when he put the finishing touch to a flowing counter just after the hour mark.

Despite the win, Mourinho, who will be looking to get another trophy under his belt as United manager after winning the League Cup and Europa League in his first season in the Old Trafford hot seat, insisted that he isn’t going to be thinking about the final in May, rather concentrating securing second place in Premier League table.

He said: “At this moment I don’t think about next season or the final. I think about Arsenal [on Sunday] because we need one point to finish in the top four, but we need seven points to finish second and we deserve to finish second and we have to finish second.”

United currently sit second in the league on 74 points, 16 points behind champions Manchester City.

But Mourinho believes the gap could have been closer if it wasn’t for a number of performances that fell below the standard he expects from his side.

“I think we should have eight, nine, 10 points more than we have. I think we could finish this season with 88, 89, 90 points,” said the Portuguese.

“Not acceptable, the last defeat [against West Brom]. Not acceptable, the performance at Huddersfield. Not acceptable, the performance at Newcastle. So we lost a few matches where we should do better.

“Can we improve for next season? Let’s try. Can Manchester City keep this level or improve this level? Only they can say, but they have the team they have and, if they are going invest on top of the team they have, then of course it is going to be very difficult for all of us.”