Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has called on his team to raise their game as his club pursue victory in their League Cup campaign and continue to cling on to their fast fading hopes of Champions League qualification. Gerrard's side have struggled in recent games in spite of heavy investment in the squad by manager Kenny Dalglish at the start of the current campaign - and even a recent return to fitness and form of the talismanic Gerrard has not been enough to stop the club sliding to 7th in the Premier League table.

Ferguson punished for showing Palace a lack of respect

Bookies were offering odds of 12/1 on a Crystal Palace victory at Old Trafford last night, and Sir Alex Ferguson's shock following his side's 2-1 quarter final loss showed that he expected his Manchester United side to win as much as they did.

We ought to give a pat on the back to Frankie Simek, who starred in Carlisle United's Johnstone's Paint Trophy win against Brentford on Sunday and became the first American Wembley cup final winner since Jemal Johnson in 2008, or the first at the new Wembley with an American accent let's say.Frank has always been an impressive performer in my eyes, and could easily have worked at a higher level.