London--Jubilant Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood challenged his players to earn FA Cup final places after they set up a May 30 showdown with holders Arsenal by impressively overcoming Liverpool.
Philippe Coutinho put Liverpool ahead in Sunday's semi-final at Wembley, but goals either side of half-time from Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph earned Villa a 2-1 win that took them into a first FA Cup final since 2000.
Villa have won six of their 11 games since Sherwood succeeded Paul Lambert in mid-February, pulling four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, but he warned his players that there was still plenty of work to do.
"They'll only get here if they play well in the games remaining, so they're fighting for their places," said the former Tottenham Hotspur manager.
"We will be the underdog. The pressure's on Arsenal to win the cup. They're the holders and they want to win it again.
"But we have to put it on the back burner now. We realise we've got a lot of hard work between now and then. We need to secure our safety and then come back here and take the game to Arsenal."
Villa's chances of dethroning Arsenal have not been improved by an injury to centre-back Nathan Baker, who was forced off in the first half after aggravating a knee problem.
Sherwood said he was likely to miss the rest of the season and with Ciaran Clark also sidelined, it leaves Jores Okore, Baker's replacement on Sunday, and Ron Vlaar as Villa's only fit central defenders.
But Sherwood could also reflect on a remarkably composed performance by 19-year-old youth-team graduate Jack Grealish, who created Delph's 54th-minute winner with a cleverly disguised pass.
In a historial quirk, Grealish's great-great-grandfather Billy Garraty played in Villa's 1905 FA Cup success against Newcastle United and Sherwood said the teenager would not be fazed by the prospect of following in his ancestor's footsteps.
AFP
