Manchester United are playing confidently and should be able to win the League Cup, and there will be no excuses if they fail to beat Manchester City in Wednesday’s semi-final, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Tuesday.

United crashed out at the semi-final stage of the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League last season, but Solskjaer believes that they have made big improvements in the current campaign.

The club are second in the Premier League after a 10-match unbeaten run and level on 33 points with leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.

“We’ve developed in the last 12 months since the last semi-final in the League Cup so it’s not just learning to win semi-finals,” Solskjaer told reporters.

“We’ve also earned the right to feel we can go all the way with our performances. We’re confident, in good form, so there are no excuses. You play to win trophies — it gives you the hunger to win more. The squad is focused and ready to give it a go.”

Solskjaer said he feels “fresh legs” give his team the edge. United have had four days to prepare for the Derby after beating Aston Villa 2-1 on Friday while the meeting at Old Trafford comes just 72 hours after City’s 3-1 win over Chelsea.

“We’ve had four days now after Villa so hopefully we’ve got more fresh legs. It’s a difficult season but we’ll benefit from the rotations we’ve made. That’s going to be important with having fresh legs.

United were held to a goalless draw at home by City in their league game last month, and Solskjaer attributed that to City manager Pep Guardiola switching to a more counter-attacking formation.

“You never know what system he’s going to come up with but you’ve got to defend well. It’s hard to keep the ball in their half — we have to be brave, compact and trust the players,” Solskjaer said.