Birmingham City match-winner Craig Gardner savoured an "unbelievable" experience after firing his boyhood club to Wembley.

The midfielder scored the extra-time clincher as Blues overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit to complete a 4-3 aggregate win in the Carling Cup semi-final and set up a final against Arsenal next month.

And he told Sky Sports 1: "It's unbelievable, you dream of these things.

"I was saying to my mates I wanted to get the winner to take us there and to do it was unbelievable."

Carlton Cole's screamer to open the scoring on the night had put the Hammers 3-1 ahead on aggregate before Lee Bowyer and Roger Johnson set up extra time.

Keeper Ben Foster admitted Birmingham had done things the hard way, saying: "As always, it takes a goal against to get us going.

"(The final) will be a great event for the fans, it's been a while and for a lot of the lads, it may be the only time we play in a final.

"We've got nothing to lose, its a one-off game and anything can happen. We've just got to play like we did in the second half and hopefully get the result."