SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY boss Terry Yorath knows his side is only two games away from the final of the Worthington Cup but he admitted: "We could not have dreamed of this."
The first division strugglers are fighting for their lives in the league, with only hapless Stockport County below them.
And Yorath admitted: "As with Rovers, the most important thing for us is avoiding relegation, that is the be all and end all.
"But if we can get to the Millennium Stadium it would be great and it would be particularly special for me as Cardiff is my home town."
Yorath took charge of the cash-strapped side after Peter Shreeves stepped down earlier in the season. He had originally arrived at Hillsborough with Paul Jewell after the pair had enjoyed success at Bradford City.
After a number of good results when in caretaker-charge of the Owls he was handed the job full time and he has rewarded the board with a run to the semi-finals of the Worthington Cup providing much needed cash to the South Yorkshire side.
But with injuries and suspensions piling up around him, Yorath confessed: "We are down to the bare bones at the moment.
"We have not got a lot of money to play around with so it is a question of wheeling and dealing. But I am hoping to get some fresh faces into the club in the next few weeks."
That will be too late for Tuesday's first leg at Hillsborough when Yorath will be looking for the same standard of performance that saw them blow Watford away 4-0 in the quarter-final.
"They came to us having not conceded a goal for four games but we managed to put four past them," he said. "But that match showed the basic truth that if you are going to get results you need to score goals.
"We have had Blackburn watched a few times and it looks like they are suffering from the same problems as we have, they have been creating a lot of chances but not taking them."
But while Rovers have been able to go out and purchase the striking talents of a certain Andy Cole, Yorath is attempting to get enough money together to add Stockport County Shefki Kuqi to his squad.
"Take our game against Gillingham recently," Yorath said.
ur "All our chances seemed to fall to Efan Ekoku and he had four one on ones with the keeper but didn't score.
"We have been making enough chances, we just haven't been taking them."
Yorath had hoped that the cup success, which has already seen them knock out Premier League sides Sunderland and Aston Villa, would have had a positive impact on the league form but that is not how it has panned out.
"We have got to the semis but we still go out and concede four terrible goals like we did against Norwich," he moaned.
While he would be delighted to get a trip home to Cardiff it is not correct to say nothing would make him happier as ensuring first division survival is his main ambition.
But Rovers can still expect to face a motivated and hungry Wednesday side on Tuesday night, determined to prove the current league position is false.
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