EVERTON’S players collapsed onto the Wembley turf in despair.

Jamie Carragher joined them, only his actions were out of relief.

The 33-year-old admits he felt like crying at the final whistle on Saturday afternoon, exhausted after carrying the burden his first-half mistake.

“I was close to tears,” he admitted.

“If we had lost that game I’m not sure if I would’ve recovered to be honest. This was probably the biggest derby I have ever played in. I’ve played in the Champions League final but that’s up there.”

As Carragher smacked the ball into Tim Cahill and watched Nikica Jelavic capitalise on the spoils, there was a foreboding sense that Liverpool’s season was about to plummet further.

Carragher admits it did not look good as they trailed at half-time but his near 16 year career at Anfield as taught him to never write anything off.

Nothing is out of the question with Liverpool.

Luis Suarez and then Andy Carroll would oversee the turnaround, sending Kenny Dalglish’s men into the final on May 5.

Carragher struggles to identify what has given the club this continued ability to fight back when all looks lost but he is comforted that it is there.

“It is in the club’s DNA,” he said.

“I said to Stevie: ‘How many times have we done that?’

“It’s not looking well but we find a way to win.

“We’ve done it in the past and I think we’ll always have that in the future.

“We put our supporters through it, we say that every time we have a big game.

“I don’t think many clubs have got it. Man United have got it, ourselves have got it and it is just finding the way to win in those big moments.

“I don’t know what it is, it’s not something you can put your finger on but we have got it.

“You’re losing 1-0 and trying to get a way back in.

“But we always find a way. You just keep going.

“I don’t think what we did was about our ability, it is a character thing. The teams at the top of the league are the best teams but in certain, one-off games we have it. It’s not just these teams, it’s a special thing that clubs can have and we’ve got it.

“We showed what Liverpool are about. David Moyes said the whole country was with them but we’re a special club with special fans. Not many teams could come back.

“We did it before in 1986 when Everton were 1-0 up at half-time and we’ve done it again.

“We’ve got that ability to come back.”

Carragher is defined by an honesty, both to his play and his words.

But even he admits he purposefully under sold the significance of the game with Everton beforehand.

“I’ve played in Champions League and FA Cup finals but this was up there because of who we were playing and because it was at Wembley,” he said.

“You don’t say that before the game because you don’t want to set yourself up for a fall, so you play it down a bit. But we were well aware of what it would’ve been like if Everton had won that game.

“I’m delighted and pleased for the manager and supporters more than anyone because of the week that we’ve had and what has happened off the pitch.

“What would the reaction have been if we had lost today?

“The supporters have come down in their thousands – I saw them at Lime Street on the television and they were confident.

“It was one of them games were I think a lot of people maybe didn’t want us to win so to come through, especially in those circumstances, I’m delighted for them.”

Carragher also offered words of congratulations to the winning goalscorer.

There may even have been a touch of thanks in his words as well, following his first-half error.

“It’s massive, of course it is, when you score the winner in a game of that magnitude,” Carragher said of Carroll’s 87th minute header.

“Everybody talks about his fee but that was nothing to do with him. He’s a young lad finding his feet at Liverpool. You forget how young the lad is and he’d only played six months in the Premier League (before signing) so let’s not forget that.

“It’s a massive goal for him and a massive goal for Liverpool.”