Kenny: We deserve trophy chance
Kenny Dalglish today insisted his squad deserve the chance to become Wembley heroes this weekend.
The Reds take on Cardiff in the first final of the season on Sunday afternoon, with Dalglish declaring his players fully merit their opportunity to end the club's six year wait for a trophy.
"I think it's important that they get the accolades they deserve," he said.
"When I came to the club as a player, I may have been the only one who came in that year. I was walking straight into a really successful club, who had won the league, been to the Cup final and won the European Cup.
"Everything was set, everything was there. It was still a work in progress but where they were coming from was a really high standard.
"We weren't at that standard when I came back as a manager. We have to try and get there.
"So for the lads to have made the contribution they have is great. Not just the nine who have come in but the lads who have been here for a while. The likes of Stevie, Carra, Pepe and Daniel Agger. All of them have made a contribution.
"The fact they have come in and all got on so well with each other is reflected in the results that they've had. Aside from two or three blips they have done particularly well in their first season together."
The Reds will kick off at Wembley as odds-on favourites to land the silverware, but Dalglish insists whatever happens on the day won't define Liverpool's season.
"We have given ourselves a chance by getting there and let's see how we get on," he added. "We're not going to jump ahead of ourselves or take anything for granted. It's going to be a really difficult game for us. It's just as huge a match for Cardiff as it is for us.
"If we want to have any designs on winning the match we need to play to our full capacity.
"We have still got a huge opportunity in front of us to make the season relatively successful. We've got the Carling Cup final, the sixth round of the FA Cup at home to Stoke and some really important league matches coming up.
"It could be a decent season for everybody. Irrespective of what happens in one game, we cannot carry it on into the next game.
"We had a great result against Brighton but we cannot carry that on into Sunday.
"We have to start from scratch and prepare the best we can for Cardiff. Let's go one at a time and see where it takes us."