"He is someone who has played a massive part in my career and I respect him a lot.

"He demands the best. The best is what you take out on to the football pitch.

"The best is that you show character and passion, and he demands that when you walk off the pitch you can hold your head up high."

Saturday was a second FA Cup final defeat for Cahill after losing with Millwall against Manchester United five years earlier.

And the Australian said: "It’s the same feeling as in 2004. It’s a bad moment.

"But I will be back one way or another," he added.

"Having been here in a final, it definitely makes us more determined."

Cahill also revealed that Millwall’s failure to gain promotion to the Championship plight this season had given him double Wembley misery.

The Lions lost in the League One play-off final to Scunthorpe and Cahill added: One play-off failure earlier this month was viewed with dismay by the Australian.

He said: "I am very passionate about the fans and the club that I play for.

"The last time I played in a Cup final it was with Millwall and we lost that one to Manchester United.

"Millwall is a club also very close to my heart and I was gutted that they didn’t get promotion after reaching the play-off final.

"I was dejected by that, and now I feel the same for Everton, obviously. You walk off the Wembley pitch feeling you were so close yet so far away.

"But we beat some really good Premier League sides to get to Wembley, and we finished fifth in the table.

"Don’t forget that makes us the fifth-best team in the country and we pushed Chelsea into a very good performance to beat us.

"But we do not sugar-coat anything at Everton, we lost the game and we must get on with life now. Chelsea were the better team," added the Australian