Liverpool's two-goal hero Lauri Dalla Valle was delighted with their FA Youth Cup semifinal victory over Birmingham City.

"It means a lot for us to reach the final," Dalle Valle told liverpoolfc.tv.

"This is a tough competition and we have done what we set out to achieve and that is to get to the final. Hopefully we can go on to win it but we have a tough game against Arsenal.

"We can't wait for the final. I think it's going to be a really good game with two good teams facing each other."

Thomas Ince put in another impressive display and revealed the pre-match good luck message from Rafa Benitez was a big boost for the youngsters.

"The manager gave us a message before the game and told us to enjoy it and work hard," he said. "Hopefully we have done the manager proud.

"This competition allows us to show the manager that there is good talent in the youth team and he can have a look at us.

"I thought the whole team did well tonight. It will be a great experience for us to play at the Emirates and we just want to do as well as we can in the final."