Wembley, clearly, won’t hold any fears, especially when you consider the noise that will be generated by supporters who are desperate for success and Hibbert recalls with a smile a tale from the semi-final win over Manchester United.

Tickets for the game with Chelsea have long been in short supply but some of Hibbert’s quick thinking friends, eager to avoid disappointment, made sure all requests were made early – very early.

“Wherever Everton go, it is always special but the FA Cup will be something else all together. We’ve had a great following in Europe and it’s been the same throughout this Cup run,” said Hibbert.

“It’s just been madness. Absolutely crazy. I’ve had more requests for tickets than you would believe – it’s not just been off family or friends, either. I’ve walking down the street and people are stopping me because they just want to be there.

“As soon as I switched my phone on after the semi-final, I had a lot of messages of congratulations but within a couple of minutes, I’d had the first one saying ‘sort me out for Wembley’.

“To be honest, some lads were so confident that they were asking me even before we played Manchester United; it was a good laugh but it just showed how confident everyone was.”

But confidence is not confined just to supporters – listening to Hibbert speak, it is clear to detect there is an abundance of it in the dressing room also.

“We have got to be underdogs. Chelsea have got some unbelievable players and it is no surprise that they keep getting to major finals,” said a man who is the subject of one of the most humorous banners in circulation – ‘If Hibbert scores, we riot.’

“But we are not bothered about that. It suits us that nobody will give us much of a chance; when we play them – or any of the other top teams – we give as good as we get. We like to play and we like to show them what we can do. Everyone here will play their hearts out.

“We’ve got experience of playing on big stages, so I don’t think there will be any problems about playing at Wembley.

“We’ve bounced back from injuries and to get this far has been unbelievable. Please God will finish the job off now. I’m ready for the big day now – I just hope that it turns out as everyone wants it to.”