Lucas Leiva's Liverpool career has been one of sheer ups and downs.

Having been booed off in several of his earlier fixtures, the Brazilian - who arrived as an attacking midfielder, only to be molded into a defensive holding midfielder - turned around the Anfield crowd impressively.

But when things were beginning to go really well for Lucas, the 2010-11 Player of the Season, long-term injuries wreaked havoc with his career.

Throughout Kenny Dalglish's short reign, Lucas was forced to watch on agonisingly from the stands as the Reds took three trips to Wembley Stadium inside a few months - and he missed out on them all.

But now, with the Reds facing Aston Villa this Sunday, Lucas finally has the opportunity to play there for the first time - and he's relishing the thought.

"I have been dreaming to play at Wembley," he says. "If selected I will be very happy because the last time I wasn’t available.

"Hopefully I will be able to play the next two times, the semi and the final.

"I have been here for so long and I have always wanted to play these types of games. Hopefully it will happen."

Once Steven Gerrard leaves, Lucas will become the club's longest-serving player - having been on Merseyside for eight years now. But after missing the Capital One Cup triumph, the 28-year-old is still yet to have lifted silverware in a red shirt. 

He joins an elite list, only five other Liverpool players in the club's history having played longer than Lucas without winning a trophy. 

But despite the League Cup medal still sitting at home, Lucas believes that he is yet to truly win his first trophy at Liverpool - and so Sunday's chance is one he will cherish as the Reds battle to reach the FA Cup final.

Yet the midfielder almost came close to missing out, after going down under a studs-up challenge from Moussa Sissoko in a 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday night - which saw the Frenchmen earn a yellow card, but it could have easily been a red in its own right.

"I think I was quite lucky to be honest," Lucas said, reflecting on the challenge. "I thought it could have broken my leg.

"He apologised after the game which was mature and very nice of him. It could have ended my season but luckily it didn’t."

That would have been the latest blip on a 2014-15 campaign that has been littered with ups and downs. Lucas has been in stellar form for Brendan Rodgers' side, but has often found playing time restricted by injuries. 

But now, fit and firing, Lucas is one of several players raring to get out onto the Wembley pitch and move 90 minutes closer to silverware.

"We spoke about that at the beginning of the season," says Lucas. 'Last year we were so close in the league and this year in the Capital One Cup and now we have a chance of another final.

"It is important because trophies give you belief. Last season was unfortunate in that we deserved to win the league but in the end we were not as good as Manchester City.

"This season in the semi-final with Chelsea, we played two fantastic games but we just did not get the result. That is what is missing from our game – the results."

Of his struggles to stay fit this season, Lucas added: "Yes, it was hard. It wasn’t easy when you’re not involved much.

"I played the first game of the season and then for three months I didn’t play so much, especially in the Premier League.

"It was hard to work and wait for my chance. But I think overall I am having a good season.

"An injury stopped me a bit but the last couple of games against Blackburn and Newcastle I have played at the same level I was before the injury, which is great.

"I just need to carry on like that. When I am fit and well, I think I can offer a lot to the team."

Lucas has offered his services to the Liverpool side since 2007, playing under numerous different managers in successful, and by contract unsuccessful, periods of the club's history.

"The club went through a lot in those years," Lucas says, speaking of the years after Rafael Benitez' departure. "The change in owners and everything that happened with that affected the club, there was a big change in the squad which is not normal.

"At some point you pay a price for that. It had to be done and now the club is moving forward; that is the main thing."

But Lucas insists whilst he has seen so much at Anfield, he feels his stay in England could have been cut a lot shorter than it has turned out to be.

"I felt after the first season I was gone," he joked. "I didn’t think I was going to stay this long.

"I still have a few years left on my contract. Football is always changing a lot every season. If I feel I will be helping, there is no reason to change.

"It’s hard to say what my best game is because I normally have a very good game and then get an injury afterwards."

The Reds have had to endure a long hard campaign, but the FA Cup remains an opportunity for Rodgers and co. to crown off the season in style - and Lucas believes that it would be a brilliant marker for a young Liverpool side.

"Since November we have had a very good season," he continued. "The first two months were not good enough and we have to win back the points we lost at the beginning of the season.

"It is still open. If you look at the table, our bad start is costing us at ehe moment.

"If we had had two or three more wins, which isn’t a lot, we would be challenging for second or third again. We have to hope Manchester City drop points.

"Of course I prefer medals and trophies but we want as a club to be playing at the highest level.

"It would be an incredible achievement if we won the FA Cup and got top four again."