Irvine believes the Carling Cup’s prestige has been restored with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all reaching the final in the last three years, and Irvine says Everton are determined to go all the way in this season’s competition.

“We’ve been disappointed with our cup performances in recent years and it’s something we’re hoping to improve on this season,” he said.

“We believe the Carling Cup is very important and I think the fact the big four are winning it again shows they treat it as being important again as well.

“It’s an opportunity to get into Europe and a springboard to further success, and I don’t see people being too disappointed at going to the Carling Cup final.

“I think if we got there our fans would be absolutely delighted.”

Everton’s last cup success was the 1995 FA Cup and their last quarter-final appearance was a 3-0 defeat by Middlesbrough in March 2002, just a week before manager David Moyes took charge.

Moyes and Irvine have since transformed the club and with Everton’s recent injury problems almost clear, the Blues’ number two believes they now have a squad capable of challenging for silverware.

“We haven’t made much of the fact we’ve been missing key players at certain times,” said Irvine.

“It’s good to have most of them back now and the ones who aren’t fit aren’t out for much longer.

“It’s our third game in six days and this is when we really do need to have a squad of fit first-team players.

“We’ve been badly stretched in recent seasons, our bench hasn’t had that depth, but now we’ve got players that can come on and make a difference.

“We now have the luxury of having a lot of first-team players to choose from and to change our system.”

Full-back Leighton Baines (ankle) is out while Everton’s only other confirmed absentee is striker Andrew Johnson, who is expected to return to training next week following ankle surgery.