Maclaren is yet to win any in either the A-League or the Cup - he was a substitute in Perth Glory's 2014 final loss to Adelaide United.

But with six goals in this FFA Cup campaign, the Socceroos striker is primed to make an impact.

"(I'm) hungry as ever," Maclaren told reporters.

"I've been on the receiving end of a Cup final before and I've lost and it was away in Adelaide.

"So this time, a bit of redemption for me and we'll go there and this club's won it before and I want to bring another trophy to this club.

"And that's why I came to this club, to get silverware, and Wednesday it starts."

Maclaren is in rare form, recently scoring his maiden Socceroos hat-trick against Nepal, then another goal off the bench against Taiwan.

Just days later, he backed that up with an A-League brace against Adelaide on Sunday.

"When you're in this sort of rich vein of form you do enjoy the moments," he said.

"But I've got to keep getting in these positions because my teammates -whether it's Socceroos or this team, Melbourne City - they'll always create chances for me and I have to be the man that's always on my toes."

Maclaren and City can take confidence from their defeat of the Reds, just days before the final.

"Obviously it helps you playing the same opponent, and obviously we'll go there and they'll know the last time they played us we beat them," Maclaren said.

While City accounted for Adelaide at home, facing the Reds in front of a parochial Coopers Stadium crowd is a completely different prospect.

"It's not easy, it's a tough place to go to and we've obviously got knocked out by them last year in the finals series," Maclaren said.

"But that's in the back of our mind.

"We'll just go there and play our game and we're a whole new team, a whole new style and, whether we're at home or away, we'll play our style and be on the front foot and really attack them."

Australian Associated Press