Glen: They made a difference
Glen Johnson has hailed the Liverpool supporters for the part they played during Wednesday night's Carling Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City.
On an emotional night for Kenny Dalglish and his players, the Kop crowd generated an atmosphere that was a throw-back to some of the most famous European nights at Anfield.
And Johnson was under no illusions that when such passionate support teems down from the stands, the players on the field are given an enormous boost.
"It makes such a big difference when the crowd are like that, they're famous for their atmosphere and it was one of those days," said Johnson.
"The lads are buzzing. It was a great result and we're pleased to get to the final but we haven't won anything yet.
"I think it was just the way the lads hung in there and stuck together. We had a game plan and we just went out there and tried to work our socks off because we knew were only 90 minutes away from the final."
Johnson was pivotal in the build-up to what proved to be Liverpool's winner, exchanging crisp passes with Craig Bellamy inside Joe Hart's penalty box before the Welshman swivelled and struck to send Anfield into delirium and Liverpool to Wembley.
The striker, who led the Red line tirelessly all evening, was deservedly awarded man of the match, and Johnson said: "He's been fantastic for us at the moment, his work rate is up there and you probably won't get a better free transfer."
Dalglish's stern words in the aftermath of Saturday's defeat at the Reebok seemed to have had an effect on his players as they fought tooth and nail to secure a place in the final against a table-topping City side.
Johnson admitted: "We knew we were off-par against Bolton and that's quite unlike ourselves but we knew we needed to bounce back with a good performance and I think we did that today.
"We're pleased to get to Wembley there but we haven't won anything yet, we've got another game in front of us (against Cardiff) so we'll go into that with the same mentality as today and see what happens."
When asked if he felt the Reds had ample time to recover before another tough fixture against rivals Manchester United on Saturday, Johnson responded optimistically.
He said: "The boys are fine, it's a normal game for us, the work rate is there and the lads will be fine. I think three or four days will be plenty."