Liverpool came through a thrilling 4-3 quarter-final enounter at Aston Villa last night - and Gerrard believes the Reds are now strong contenders to regain the trophy they won in Cardiff two seasons ago.

Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard, man of the match in the victory at Villa Park, told Sky Sports: 'It's a good draw for us.

'They are going to be two good games. They've knocked out Premiership teams Leeds and Sunderland to get here so we've got to show them a bit of respect and they work very hard for each other.

'Maybe we've got a better chance of getting to the final by avoiding the Premiership sides but it's going to be no pushover. We've got to work hard.'

Liverpool fell a goal behind tonight to a Darius Vassell penalty before the Reds stormed back with goals from Danny Murphy, Milan Baros and Gerrard.

Villa pulled back to 3-3 after Tomas Hitzlsperger cut the deficit and then Dion Dublin's shot deflected in off Stephane Henchoz but Gerrard's run and cut back found Murphy for a dramatic injury-time winner.

Manchester United reached the semi-finals by beating Chelsea 1-0 on Tuesday night while holders Blackburn saw off Wigan 2-0 at the JJB Stadium. The Blades beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Bramall Lane on the same evening.

Neil Warnock is thrilled for his younger players after his side were paired with Liverpool.

'We are absolutely delighted,' said Warnock. 'It's a fantastic opportunity for our younger lads in particular to play against the top of the range. It gives Liverpool two great games for them to be able to take a look at our youngsters. We have one or two who could play in the Liverpool side now.

'And the fans are looking forward to this one. They've not had any glory for a long, long time. They've had some fantastic excitement throughout the competition and the main thing from our point of view is that it's going to make us a lot of money.'

Liverpool will start the two-legged semi-final as strong favourites, but not many neutrals will be writing the Blades' off - the First Division promotion hopefuls have already accounted for Leeds and Sunderland.

United currently lie fifth in the table and youngsters such as Michael Tonge, Michael Brown and Phil Jagielka are all currently being monitored by Premiership clubs.