"It’s an amazing feeling: It was a great night for us. It was a tough game but tactically we were good - the players followed their instructions to the letter.  It’s definitely up there with our best performances. There is a balance and a sweet spot in our game we need to get right. 

"The intention was to be aggressive and sometimes when you do that it doesn't always work. Today it did. I thought it helped to solidify our plan. We had to retreat at times but we were always in the game.

"The work started on Monday, which is quick. The Champions League last year helped us to work on those two-day turnarounds. We do tweak things depending on the opposition. We felt we needed more height in the team, we wanted solidity at the back and we had to change in order to win the game.

"The players followed the instruction to the letter, they deserve the credit. Fabian (Schar) had big distances to cover in his job, tracking Declan Rice whether he dropped low or went wide or went central. At times he went right across the pitch. He is a good athlete and is very capable of doing it.

"We worked a lot on set-plays this week because we knew Arsenal’s threat was so high. In the first leg we got lucky a couple of times and that influenced our team selection – we needed the height of Sven (Botman), Dan (Burn) and Fabian (Schar), especially as we were without Joelinton.

"Jason Tindall and the analysts deserve a lot of credit. They put a lot of work into set-pieces and we defended them really well today.

"Tonight it was perfect - we were brave, we were aggressive, we were everything we wanted to be against a very good team. The players have given us everything, mentally and physically.

"We’re always competitive. You have to be. You have to go up against your direct opponent and you have to be in their face. It wasn’t necessarily a direct order to be aggressive but we have to stand our ground, we have to win our battles. If that means a physical confrontation then, yeah, we back ourselves to mix it with them.

"I’m very proud to lead this team and this club. You saw the best of the city of Newcastle tonight, you saw the support for the players and the love for the players. 

"This group of players have been magnificent. They have gone hard and given everything. I’m very proud to manage them. We have shown we can compete against any team.

"You know the magnitude of the occasion, and the repercussions, good and bad, but you can’t get caught up on that. The players were emotional, but in the right way. 

"We weren’t over the top, we weren’t irrational, we were in control of everything we were doing. I think that comes with experience. 

"Part of the team selection was to pick a team that could handle the occasion and the environment it was going into. There were some really wise heads on the pitch, really good leaders. I thought we looked a top team.

"Fate will naturally take its course, I don’t think we’ll engage on the emotion of who we’ll play. That will come in time, of course.

“Two elite teams (Liverpool and Spurs), two very good sides that we have faced this season, so we know whoever we play will be a tough opponent, but I think it’s just a case at the moment of being really pleased to have won today, continued our good momentum and good form.

"At our very best levels, I think we’re a very good team, so I think that should give us loads of confidence.

"It’s a long time (to wait for a trophy). We’d love to end it and we’ll work as hard as we can and prepare right to try to do that.  It's huge. The first Wembley appearance was brilliant, it was sort of unexpected, but a club like this and where it wants to be, we need to be there regularly. We need to feel it's not a surprise.

"We're here on merit, our run's not been easy. Look at the teams we've had to face; I think it's four Premier League teams if I'm right, but we've done the hard yards and we've now got an opportunity.

"Hopefully we can learn from the last experience and improve our performance. You have to learn from disappointing experiences and there are definitely things we can learn. I think we learned a lot from that day. The whole build-up to the game was long. Looking back, it was exhausting for me, so I’m sure it was the same for the players.

"You learn different techniques to help keep your concentration and focus, and not become tired because of the long build-up. There’s definitely things that, as a club, we can look at and improve. We can help the players, and make sure that when that day comes around, we’re able to help them to perform and give our absolute best.

"Since I’ve been here the fans have been absolutely magnificent and I’m so pleased they get another trip to Wembley. I just hope for them we can get a trophy."