He said: "When we travelled to Aston Villa and I saw 5,000 Liverpool fans waiting for 90 minutes in the cold to give us their backing and I told the players 'despite our run they are here because they believe in us'.
"When we won that night I knew we would reach the final. I knew we would reward those fans and last night's win was for them. It is a reward for them and a reward for the players.
"We have such a special relationship between the fans and the team and that has grown stronger during our difficult period.
"The run to the final has not been easy because we have had to beat two Premiership teams and two first division teams. We have taken the competition seriously from the start."