Javi Gracia told his Watford players of his regret at never reaching a cup final before their FA Cup clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers, according to Craig Cathcart. 

The Hornets' head coach never had the opportunity to play in such an occasion and before the semi-final he asked his players if they could win the game for him.

Watford produced an historic comeback to win the game 3-2 and Cathcart said the squad are now delighted to have the final to look forward to.

"It doesn't come round very often, the chance to play in a final," said Cathcart.

"Our manager mentioned that before the game, that he hasn't had the opportunity to play in a final, so he wanted us to get there for him. 

"A lot of the lads, they've never had the opportunity to play in the final before and everyone in the dressing room's looking forward to it. Even the lads who weren't in the squad today, they were in the dressing room celebrating with us and that just shows how good our team spirit is.

"It's an unbelievable feeling and it's a day I'm sure everyone involved with the club can enjoy and it's one of those things you want to do as a kid, play in the finals so it's a great achievement."

While all around him seemed to be getting carried away with the sense of occasion, Cathcart himself remained calm and focused and said that he thinks this season's cup run will not mean anything if they do not put on a good performance in the final.

He said: "It's only a semi-final to be honest. We know it's a great achievement, it's nice to go that one step further than we did in the past, but we know it'll mean nothing if we don't go into the final and try to win and try to do the best we can. 

"The FA Cup has been really important to the top six over the last few years because there's not many trophies that they can win between them and for us to get to the final has been a massive achievement.

"Now we have to go to the final and try and do the best we can."

Watford will undoubtedly be seen as the underdogs in the final where they will face Manchester City, but Cathcart's experience of playing with Northern Ireland means he is used to not being the favourite for big occasions.

Instead, he wants Watford to focus on the confidence they can take from their semi-final win.

He said: "In the past with Northern Ireland we've been underdogs and performed well on big occasions, it's going to be a difficult game, everyone knows that and it's a cup final, you never know what can happen.

"People like to see the underdogs doing well and we will be going to the final full of confidence. It's going to be a tough game and we know it, but it's something to look forward to and we'll be sure to give them a good game.

"It's going to be difficult for them to try to go for four trophies and we saw the game yesterday, Brighton caused them a lot of trouble and they are beatable and they have lost games. 

"We've created chances in every game we've had this season and today was no different, we could've had a few more goals and we're full of confidence in the team we've got."