Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted Liverpool deserved its place in the Carabao Cup final. That comes after his side’s narrow semi-final defeat.

The Reds will return to Wembley next month after a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage earned them a 3-2 win on aggregate. Luis Díaz’s early goal set them on their way after Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones had secured a 2-1 win at Anfield two weeks ago.

The tie wasn’t without its perils for Jürgen Klopp’s side though. Fulham had taken the lead on Merseyside, and threatened to take the game to extra-time in London after Issa Diop’s late goal sprung the game back into life.

It’s Liverpool though that will take on Chelsea once again for the first piece of domestic silverware this season at Wembley. And there were few complaints from Silva after the game.

“We have to be proud of the way we played in the games in this competition,” Silva told Sky Sports. “We know the quality of the opposition we faced.

“Overall it wasn’t our best performance at home, probably the emotion of the game and after conceding so early hard to settle. Overall I believe Liverpool played better than us but our commitment and attitude was always there.

“We tried until the end. After our goal it became a proper cup tie and emotional as well. We hit the woodwork but unfortunately didn’t score again and Liverpool go through to the final.

“We were not clinical, even the game away from home. In these types of games and these types of sides you have to be ruthless.