Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has praised Fabian Delph after the midfielder scored the winning goal in his side's 2-1 victory over Liverpool in their FA Cup semi-final this afternoon.

The 25-year-old struck early in the second half to send the Villans through to their first cup final in 15 years.

"When I came to the club Fabian Delph had just signed a new contract," Sherwood told BBC Sport. "He's showed a lot of loyalty and he will do for me.

"We need characters like that who are willing to put themselves on the line. I've never seen him have a bad day for England at Wembley and hopefully he'll play well in the final.

"He's nicked a couple of goals for us recently and I've been encouraging him to do that. Hopefully he'll carry on that way and become too expensive for anybody to buy."

Delph joined Villa from Leeds United in August 2009.