Jagielka targets Wembley as FA Cup run continues

Everton captain Phil Jagielka is keen for the club to turn promise into silverware and end the club’s 21-year wait for a trophy.

The club’s last success came in the FA Cup in 1995, and despite underwhelming in the Premier League this season, Jagielka and his team-mates are through to the quarter-finals of the Cup, where they will face Chelsea, after beating Bournemouth 2-0 on Saturday.

But Jagielka has played in enough quarter and semi-finals in his time at the club to know that it is only the team that lifts the trophy that is remembered.

“The quarter-finals are nice to have and it means you are doing well in cup competitions but nobody remembers who has been in quarter-finals and semi-finals,” he said.

“It’s all about getting to the final and giving yourself a crack at winning some silverware.

“The League Cup was a good run but we didn’t get where we wanted to get so we don’t want to let ourselves down in this one.

“If we can get a little bit further the end to the season won’t be as doom and gloom as people are making out.”

Jagielka is particularly hungry to make it to Wembley again after missing Everton’s last appearance in the final in 2009.

“I have been trying my best to get to a final and it’s not really been working. Hopefully the boys will do it for me this year,” he said.

“My career has been okay. I have had some big moments for club and country so I am not sat in a dark room crying to myself but it is something I would like to get right if I can.”