'Give me names' - Bernardo Silva launches fierce defence of Man City in furious reaction to questions about ageing squad as he fires warning to critics

City are enduring their worst campaign since Pep Guardiola became coach in 2016 but showed they can still finish it strongly by winning the FA Cup, after staging an impressive comeback to beat Bournemouth on Sunday and reach the semi-finals. City's ageing squad has been cited as a big factor in them losing 15 games in all competitions but the midfielder fiercely defended himself and his team-mates in a post-match interview with reporters.

Four of City's front six players that lined up against Bournemouth are aged 30 or over, with Kevin De Bruyne 33 and Ilkay Gundogan 34. And after a poor first half, City turned the game around, with Silva helping his side utterly dominate the play, limiting Bournemouth to zero shots in the second period. Asked by reporters about people questioning the team's average age, Bernardo fired back.

"Tell me, which player? Give me names," he told reporters. "I'm 30 years old, Kovacic is 30 years old. You're not talking about guys that are 36. So we have six bad months or four bad months and out of nowhere we're old, we're not good enough? In the last eight seasons, we've won six Premier Leagues and for four bad months, we're old? That’s people that don't understand the game, never played the game and probably don't understand a thing about football."

City are on course for their lowest points total since Guardiola took charge and the coach's lowest points total in 16 years of elite management. However, they are in the FA Cup semi-finals for a seventh year running, meeting Nottingham Forest in their last-four tie at Wembley next month. "Wembley is a very special venue, it's always nice to be there," Silva said. "We were in two finals the last two years against Man Utd, one we managed to win, last season we lost. We want to be there again, fighting for the title, knowing it's not easy, because we played Forest in the semi-final and they're having a great season, but we have to put our energy into that."

City can boost their bid to finish in the Premier League's top five and ensure they qualify for next season's Champions League when they host struggling Leicester on Wednesday. Bernardo believes the team will stage a resurgence next year and force their critics to eat humble pie. He added: "We're going to prove them wrong. We have time for that. We're a bit late for this season, just maybe in a few competitions, but we'll be back, don't worry."