Last hurrah for Cardiff's dad's army

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Along with injured Robbie Fowler, Hasselbaink, 36, and Sinclair, 35, made up a trinity of thirty-somethings signed by Cardiff manager Dave Jones in an investment in experience.

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Cup of joy: Hasselbaink is congratulated by teammates after his goal against Wolves in the fifth round

An FA Cup semi-final against Barnsley on Sunday already banked and a Championship play-off place still a possibility suggests the gamble has paid off.

Sinclair said: 'Without doubt I thought that the big occasions had passed by. Coming to Cardiff, I looked at the squad and I thought we had a chance of doing something.

'You think you've got a chance of making the play-offs but I never expected anything in the FA Cup. We've done better than anything I've ever done in the Cup and we've still got a chance in the play-offs.

'I've been at clubs with a lot of great players and brilliant support but I've never had such an exciting finish to a season.'

Hasselbaink did play in an FA Cup Final — for Chelsea in the 2-0 defeat by Arsenal in 2002 in Cardiff.

He said: 'I came off after 70 minutes or so. I had a bad injury, a vein that was 75 per cent blocked. I had it before the game but I thought it was my calf and that I could play through it.

'I couldn't train for the week and on the Sunday after the final we played Aston Villa in the last game of the season.

'The morning of that game the Chelsea club doctor, Neil Fraser, called me and said: "Jim, I want to take you to the specialist because I don't trust this whole thing." A vein specialist said I had to be operated on right away. I was out for four months.

'If it had been 80 per cent blocked I could have lost the lower part of my leg.'

Cardiff's oldies believe fate will work their way at Wembley on Sunday.