Downing craves Wembley success

by Setanta Staff , 15 February 2012 Downing craves Wembley success

Liverpool winger Stewart Downing hopes it will be third time lucky as he heads to Wembley next week for the Carling Cup final.


The 27-year-old has been to two previous finals, one of which ended in defeat and the other a victory in which he did not get on the pitch.

Liverpool, who are looking to lift a trophy for the first time in over five years, are making their first trip to the famous venue since 1995 during which time the stadium has been rebuilt and Downing admits it probably represents his best chance to finally experience victory there.

Npower championship high-fliers Cardiff, no strangers to Wembley themselves, as this will be their third appearance in five years having lost the 2008 FA Cup final and 2010 Championship play-off, will obviously have other ideas.

But having watched from the bench in 2004 as Middlesbrough beat Bolton and then played in Aston Villa's defeat to Manchester United two years ago the England international is keen to make amends.

"The first one I was an unused sub for Middlesbrough. I would have liked to have played but I was still involved," he said. "The second one for Villa against United - a few things didn't go our way.

"Nemanja Vidic could have been sent off early on and we were a little bit unlucky on the day. It would have been nice to finish with a medal but it wasn't to be.

"Hopefully this time around I'll get one."

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Pos
Team P W D L +/- PTS
1.
Man City
38
28
5
5
64
89
2.
Man Utd
38
28
5
5
56
89
3.
Arsenal
38
21
7
10
25
70
4.
Tottenham
38
20
9
9
25
69
5.
Newcastle
38
19
8
11
5
65
6.
Chelsea
38
18
10
10
19
64
7.
Everton
38
15
11
12
10
56
8.
Liverpool
38
14
10
14
7
52
9.
Fulham
38
14
10
14
-3
52
10.
West Brom
38
13
8
17
-7
47
11.
Swansea
38
12
11
15
-7
47
12.
Norwich
38
12
11
15
-14
47
13.
Sunderland
38
11
12
15
-1
45
14.
Stoke
38
11
12
15
-17
45
15.
Wigan
38
11
10
17
-20
43
16.
Aston Villa
38
7
17
14
-16
38
17.
QPR
38
10
7
21
-23
37
18.
Bolton
38
10
6
22
-31
36
19.
Blackburn
38
8
7
23
-30
31
20.
Wolverhampton
38
5
10
23
-43
25
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