Dalglish buoyed by Wembley return

Kenny Dalglish says Liverpool have the chance to turn their season around when they take on Cardiff in Sunday’s Carling Cup final.

Liverpool have been tussling for fourth spot in the Premier League all season and the Scot believes that a Wembley win could inspire his side to push on up the table.

Dalglish told The Guardian: “We have got a huge opportunity in front of us to make the season relatively successful.”

“We’ve got the Carling Cup final, the FA Cup sixth round at home to Stoke and some really important league matches coming up. This could be a decent season for everybody.”

Dalglish enjoyed a huge amount of success under at Wembley, winning 13 trophies there as a player.

And the Reds manager confirmed he was excited to return to the national stadium with a Liverpool side hungry for success.

“Wembley is special for anyone who goes there even if it is not for a cup final,” Dalglish said.

“It was a place we visited pretty regularly and everybody at the club is trying to get closer to those days than what has happened recently, when we have not been a contender for many of the competitions.”

“The club wants to be challenging more often than it has been in the past.”

A win for Liverpool will see Dalglish join a select list of managers to have won the Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup.

Only Joe Mercer, Bill Nicholson, Don Revie, George Graham, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho have won the three competitions.

But Dalglish has dismissed the focus on personal achievement, preferring to draw attention to his squad.

“That doesn’t really matter to me, the club is more important than me,” he said of the record books.

“We are not going for selfishness or individual glory, we are going to better the football club, that is not to say when you get success you don’t enjoy it, of course you do, but the club has to come first.”

“It is important the players get the accolades they deserve because when I first came here, I walked into a very successful club that had won the league, got beat in the FA Cup final and won the European Cup.”

“Everything was set up. Everything was there. It was still a work in progress but they were coming from a really high standard.”

“We weren’t at that standard so we have to try and get there. Aside from two or three blips I think they have done particularly well in their first season.”