Mignolet: We earned our Wembley place

The Belgian continued his 2015 renaissance with a string of saves at Ewood Park, where Philippe Coutinho's second-half strike booked a last four clash with Aston Villa at Wembley.

A 1-0 win racked up an 11th clean sheet of the calendar year for the custodian and provided Reds fans with the chance to take a journey to the national stadium next Sunday.

Mignolet told Liverpoolfc.com: "Our objective was to get to the semi-final. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, we knew it was going to be a tough game.

"Blackburn made it difficult for us both at home and at Ewood Park. But everybody did their jobs and luckily we managed to score the goal which puts us in the semi-final.

"We gave something back to the fans, who have got something to look forward to now as well with a trip to Wembley.

"They stand behind us at every single away game, they turn up in numbers and it's always nice to play in front of that crowd.

"They pushed us forward and they have something to look forward to now with a big game at Wembley. Hopefully we can get to the final as well."

Gary Bowyer's Rovers laid their marker down from kick-off, affording their Barclays Premier League visitors little time to pick a pass in the replay.

As they had at Anfield in a goalless draw last month, the Championship side defended with assurance and attacked with intent.

But Liverpool refused to buckle, despite the absence of suspended trio Emre Can, Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel plus an injury to Mamadou Sakho, to bounce back from the painful loss against Arsenal.

"After the result against Arsenal there wasn't much time to think because we knew there was going to be a game on Wednesday," said Mignolet.

"So we had to recover well, put the focus to Blackburn and then make sure that we did the things we wanted to do over here.

"I think the lads and the team responded really well, did their jobs and did what the gaffer asked us to do, and we managed to get the result we wanted.

"They've got a couple of strikers with aerial ability and you know what you're going to come across with long balls, corners and free-kicks into the box.

"But we dealt with that really well, both in the home game and over here. Luckily we managed to score that goal.

"We're very pleased with the result. We needed to bounce back after two disappointing results against Manchester United and Arsenal and we did that."

As the clock ticked ever closer to confirming the Reds' qualification for the semi-finals, Rovers committed a greater number of players forward in search of an equaliser.

That included sending goalkeeper Simon Eastwood forward for a corner in stoppage-time and almost fashioned a moment for the FA Cup history books.

As the cross spilled loose inside the Liverpool area, the Blackburn stopper spun and struck at goal, where his namesake scooped up the effort at the second attempt.

"It was Simon against Simon in the last seconds of the game!" added Mignolet.

"He had a great touch for a goalkeeper and a great strike, but luckily it was straight at me - that's what probably saved us.

"So we were very pleased at keeping a clean sheet again and making sure we got the victory we wanted."