Souness: Hoping for a win!

Last updated : 22 February 2002 By Matt

Sunday will represent only his second English cup final as a manager, following his triumph over Sunderland with The Reds ten years ago.

The Rovers boss has admitted that day meant little or nothing to him due to the difficult circumstances surrounding the game.

Souness had only just rushed back after a heart operation with team selection left to Ronnie Moran, and he was in the bad books with the Liverpool fans.

They never truly forgave him for giving an exclusive interview to The Sun - a paper reviled on Merseyside - and Souness does not treasure the memory of the cup-final day.

Souness said: "I didn't enjoy the 1992 cup final. I've not got a medal from it and I've never even watched the video.

"I don't regret it, it was something I felt I had to do at the time, but for a variety of reasons it wasn't something I enjoyed.

"But, even though our priority is staying in the Premiership, I'm going to enjoy our Worthington Cup final on Sunday.

"You can never experience enough cup finals whether you're a player or a manager.

"I've learned that you always have to treat every cup final as if it's your last because they don't come along very often.

"I want my players to go out there and enjoy it, which was something I always tried to do as a player."