Jordan Henderson has outlined his determination to return to Wembley, the scene of one of his greatest moments in a red shirt, ahead of tonight's FA Cup curtain-raiser against AFC Wimbledon.

Liverpool's squad have made the journey south for the third round encounter against Neal Ardley's League Two outfit at Kingsmeadow, where Henderson is anticipating a thorough assessment of his side's cup credentials.

The midfielder has been to Wembley with the Reds on three occasions, each of which arrived during his first season at the club, as boss Kenny Dalglish steered the team to the final of both domestic cup competitions in 2012.

First, Henderson and co claimed Liverpool's eighth League Cup triumph by edging beyond Cardiff City following a pulsating encounter and dramatic penalty shootout at the national stadium in late February.

There was more joy to follow that year in the FA Cup semi-finals as Everton were beaten in the capital; however, Chelsea ended any hopes of a cup double in May when they inflicted a sobering 2-1 defeat in the final.

"In my first year here, we won the Carling Cup, which was brilliant," Henderson told BBC Football Focus. "Then we got to the final of the FA Cup by beating Everton at Wembley but we lost to Chelsea, which was hard to take.

"I've experienced it before and it's amazing to get to the semi-finals or the finals and experience playing at Wembley in front of the fans. It's brilliant. I think it's one of the best days of my career so far, winning my first trophy for Liverpool. So hopefully we can get a few more.

"It's a massive cup competition that everybody wants to win and I think that goes for any trophy really. Any competition that you are in, you want to win every game and be at the end and win in the final."

Henderson was unaware at the time of this interview that May 30, the date of this year's FA Cup final, is also Steven Gerrard's 35th birthday - and the midfielder agreed it would be a fitting tribute should the squad reach the showpiece on that day.

He said: "It would be amazing to win a trophy, not only for us as a team - because I think we need something like that - but for him personally because he deserves something like that for how good he's been over so many years for Liverpool."

Wimbledon currently occupy 12th place in English football's fourth tier; however, Henderson has seen enough giant-killings down the years to know that Liverpool will need to be ruthless from the start tonight if they are to avoid an upset.

"We've got to go there with the right mentality," said the 24-year-old. "It will be a tough game and they will make it difficult for us. But we need to go there like we did against Bournemouth and play very well and win the game.

"I've seen it many times before, when the big team goes to a lower league ground and they get a draw or get beaten. So we've got to make sure that we go there with the right mentality and that we're doing everything that we can to prepare for the game.

"Apart from against Leicester, where we were disappointed with the end result, I think we are picking up a bit of momentum. We're putting in good team performances and we're looking really good at times.

"The Swansea game, especially, has stood out so far. So hopefully we can keep going and keep building momentum."