Jordan: Young Reds will rise to occasion

The Reds will take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday in their first game at the national stadium since reaching the final of the same competition in 2012.

All the ingredients are in place to make it an occasion to savour for Brendan Rodgers' side - and Henderson is convinced they're ready to step up to the challenge.

He told Liverpoolfc.com at Melwood: "Everyone's excited. Playing at Wembley again is big for the club and it's big for us as a team.

"It's a really important game for us, but everyone's looking forward to it. I think we're all ready for it, we just can't wait to get down there and play the game.

"I am very confident [we can rise to the occasion] because there's a lot of character in the group. We have got young players but I feel as though that there's a lot of personality and character in those players.

"I've been fortunate enough to play there a few times for Liverpool and also for England as well, so it is a special place and I think when they go there they'll love it, really embrace the atmosphere and really step up to the level that they know they can."

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Henderson started each of Liverpool's last three matches at Wembley in 2012 - the League Cup final, as well as the FA Cup semi-final against Everton and the final defeat by Chelsea.

Though the Reds prevailed in the first two, that 2-1 reversal to the Londoners still rankles with the No.14.

"You sort of tend to remember the ones that you lose more, and the one in the final against Chelsea always sticks out for me," Henderson said. "To put that right would be fantastic.

"But the most important thing is Sunday and the semi-final and concentrating on that game, and if we win that then we're in the final and anything can happen then.

"We've just got to keep doing what we've been doing, working really hard, playing with confidence and I'm sure if we do that and do everything right then we'll get a good result."

Liverpool will journey to London on the back of a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United at Anfield on Monday evening - a result that could prove crucial come May, insists Henderson.

"I think the Newcastle game was an important game," he said. "We knew we needed to win that one just to get us back on track in the league and try to make a final push for the top four.

"It also gives us confidence going into this game at the weekend, so that was really important and hopefully we can keep carrying on from that and keep growing."

Though Liverpool have been installed as favourites to prevail in Sunday's contest and set up a final date with either Arsenal or Reading, they will come up against a resurgent Villa side.

Under the guidance of new manager Tim Sherwood, the Midlanders have won four of their last seven Barclays Premier League outings - including a 1-0 success at Tottenham Hotspur last time out.

Henderson said: "Aston Villa are doing very well, especially of late, they've had some good performances, good results. Away to Spurs last weekend they won 1-0, so they'll be high on confidence and want to cause an upset.

"They've got some good players, so it'll be a tough game - a very tough game. How many times have you seen the underdog win, especially in semi-finals and finals? We will need to be careful of that.

"But if we do our job properly - which I'm sure we will - and we give everything with the quality that we've got, then we can really hurt them. Hopefully on the day, it's our day."

Henderson added: "They haven't got anything to lose so they'll be approaching the game with no fear. They'll just go out and express themselves and do everything they can to stop us from playing and getting our rhythm in the game.

"We've got to match that, we've got to match the fight that I'm sure they'll have and if we do that - if we match the dirty work - then I think we've got enough quality in the team to really go and hurt them and cause them problems. So that's what we'll be looking to do."