BENNI McCarthy is hoping to cap a magical first season in England with a trip to Wembley in May.

Blackburn Rovers' leading scorer may have won some of the biggest prizes football has to offer during an impressive career that has featured spells at some of Europe's most powerful clubs.

But the 29-year-old, who lifted the Champions League with Porto in 2004, believes he will only truly have made the grade as a player if he can tell his grandchildren in years to come that he has stepped foot on Wembley's hallowed turf.

That dream can move a step closer to reality this weekend if McCarthy succeeds in gunning down Manchester City in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

And with the chance to become one of the first players to appear at the new-look Wembley acting as an extra incentive, the South African is desperate to reproduce the kind of magic that led to Arsenal's downfall in the fifth round nine days ago.

"I think it would be a massive, massive achievement (to reach the final)," said Rovers' smiling assassin.

"I've played in two World Cups and I've played on a really high stage, but you only make the grade if you play at Wembley because it's so special in the history of football.

"If you've played at Wembley then you can say you've been there and you've played at the highest level in your football career.

"We must now continue to shine like we did against Arsenal and Everton in the previous rounds, and hopefully that will see us through to Wembley."

Signed from Porto for a bargain £2.5 million fee last summer, McCarthy has been a revelation for Rovers so far this term, scoring 18 goals in all competitions, including three in the FA Cup.

Now he's hoping to fire the goals that will lead his new club all the way to glory, but even if Rovers were to go on and lift the Cup for the first time since 1928, McCarthy insists he will still regard winning the Champions League as the finest achievement of his career.

"To play at Wembley would be massive - an unbelievable achievement - but the Champions League is the Champions League, and not every footballer can say they have won that.

"Some of the best footballers in the world, like Thierry Henry, who is the best there is for me, still don't know what it's like to win the Champions League.

"He's won everything except for that. But I've been there, I've smelt it, I've touched it, and I've got my medal in the cabinet.

"The FA Cup is also special, too, and it's probably the biggest cup you can win in football after the Champions League, so hopefully we can see it through, be strong, and get through to Wembley."

Of all the goals McCarthy has scored this season, perhaps the most crucial was his stunning late strike against Arsenal, which set up a last eight meeting with City.

That victory left Rovers believing they can go all the way in the competition, particularly as they now face a City side that seems to be bereft of confidence after a wretched run of form in the Premiership has sucked them into a relegation dog-fight.

"We can be really proud of ourselves for what we have achieved so far," said McCarthy.

"We knocked out Arsenal and, for me, they are probably the best football side in England.

"Now we've got Manchester City, who are not an Arsenal or a Chelsea, they are another humble team like ourselves, so we've got everything to play for, and so have they.

"Facing Manchester City, instead of Manchester United or Chelsea, gives us a much better chance than if we were playing a bigger team.

"We've still got our work cut out, but I think it's going to be a really interesting game, and a great game, because this is Manchester City's last opportunity to have a go at something big.

"They've had a poor season so far, but this is a chance for them to turn it around into something, and it's our big chance as well."