James McArthur has urged his Crystal Palace team-mates to grab the opportunity of reaching the FA Cup final with both hands.

The Scottish midfielder has appeared in two semi-finals with Wigan Athletic, famously going on to win the cup in 2013.

Palace head to the home of English football on Sunday looking to get past Watford and set up a final against either Manchester United or Everton.

McArthur is also believes that playing the semi-finals at Wembley is the best way to go – the past two Palace semi-finals have both been played at Villa Park.

“I think it’s brilliant having the semis at Wembley,” he said.

“I hear people saying that Wembley is sacred and should be for the final only, but it gives everyone an opportunity to play in that sacred ground.

“If you look at some lower league sides playing in the competition, it gives a club like that a chance to go to Wembley if they make the semi-finals.”

He added: “Honestly to play at Wembley is a special, special occasion and having a chance to get to the final is something we need to grab with both hands.”

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While determined to enjoy the moment of playing at Wembley again, the 28-year-old has not forgotten that there is still the important matter of putting in a performance.

He said: “There is a job to do and then if you get to the final there is a job to do there as well.

“You need to treat it like we have every round so far because if we play as we have in the cup this season we will have a really good shot.

“Just look at who we have played. We had a fortunate run with Wigan, the only really tough games we had were Everton away and Manchester City in the final, but we have come against some top quality opposition this year and put them out.”

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