Lucas Leiva is relishing the opportunity to return to Wembley with Liverpool after injury prevented the Brazilian from featuring in any of the club's last three visits to the national stadium.

The midfielder played his part as Brendan Rodgers' side battled past Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Wednesday night to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, inspired by another magical moment from Philippe Coutinho.

The No.10 swapped passes with Jordan Henderson on the edge of the opposition penalty area with 20 minutes remaining in the quarter-final replay before surging towards goal and beating Simon Eastwood with a smart finish.

Liverpool can now look forward to facing Aston Villa in the final four of the competition on April 19, on a day when the Reds will return to Wembley for the first time since 2012.

Kenny Dalglish steered them to three showpiece clashes at the national stadium at the end of that season, but a serious knee injury meant Lucas was unable to contribute - and now he's determined to make amends.

"Unfortunately I got an injury before we got to Wembley," he told Liverpoolfc.com following the triumph over Rovers. "So I missed [the chance to play there].

"Hopefully I'll be fit and be able to play at Wembley. I've never played there, so it will be a very good experience and after many years here, to have that chance is amazing.

"I think everyone could see how hard we worked. We knew it was going to be a very hard game in difficult conditions, but I think we did well and we are so happy to get to Wembley and hopefully get to the final."

Coutinho's strike, with the clock ticking down at Ewood Park, carried the Reds to Wembley and saw the diminutive playmaker mobbed by his teammates as the travelling Kop danced with sheer delight.

While at Bolton Wanderers in an earlier replay it was an instinctive curler from range that settled the tie, Wednesday's decisive effort was all about poise and agility as the attacker darted towards goal before finishing with precision.

"I have known him for a very long time and I know what he's capable of doing," insisted Lucas.

"He's becoming an even bigger player for the club and he's got a long way to go in terms of age and experience, but he's already right there with the top players."