After a very good Chelsea side under Ruud Gullit won the FA Cup for the club for the first time in 27 years in 1997, Frank Sinclair and his colleagues were on the scent of more success.They were back at Wembley less than a year after their previous triumph, to face Middlesbrough again, the team they had defeated to lift the FA Cup. This time the 1998 League Cup was the prize.One of the sub-plots of the previous two Chelsea finals was Sinclair and his great mate Eddie Newton having penalties awarded against them in 1994, with Newton able to make up for it three years later when he scored the second goal in a 2-0 victory over ‘Boro.Now, 10 months later, it was Sinclair’s turn for redemption when he broke the deadlock in another 2-0 win.

‘We had a healthy rivalry from the age of 13 or 14,’ Sinclair explains. ‘Eddie used to play for Fulham and I was at Chelsea but we both played district football together, and basically I talked Eddie into leaving Fulham as a youngster and joining Chelsea.‘So it was a case of both of us pushing each other all the way through our youth development, to be as good as each other. And that's why I think we both made it because there was that steely determination that we did not want one to get the better of the other. That's why I call it a healthy rivalry.‘We took that into our senior careers and every time Eddie did something for Chelsea, I wanted to do one better and it was vice versa. I made my debut before Eddie and he was pleased for me but he was gutted he did not get that opportunity to make his debut. He started scoring goals with Chelsea quite early so I was really annoyed with that but happy for him.‘Then when he scored in that cup final, I was so pleased for him but absolutely gutted because I knew I wasn't going to hear the last of it.‘So to go back the year after and get a goal myself was how our careers have been from very young ages, and Eddie was so happy for me that I got the opportunity to score in a cup final as well.

‘That was probably my best-ever game for Chelsea,’ Sinclair adds quickly.‘The form I took into that game was good and I made a couple of last-ditch tackles early on in the game. It definitely rivals winning the FA Cup the year before on a personal note. Scoring at Wembley is something very few people get to do so I treasure that.’The goal came in extra-time. Sinclair had been switched to wing-back when the team changed shape and from there he made a run to get his head to a Dennis Wise cross when it looked odds on the ball was going behind for a goal-kick.‘It was almost like an out-of-body experience,’ the scorer remembers, ‘because I was running into the box and I was looking at Wisey and unless you knew Wisey, most people would think he's never going to get on the end of that, but because I'd seen him in training do that so many times where he wouldn't give up on the ball, flying down the line and just about getting there and falling over crossing the ball, I almost visioned what he was going to do before he'd done it and that ultimately gave me the advantage going into the box.‘The defenders react as if they can't believe he's got it in the box, whereas I’m on the move as I expected him to cross it, and I was able to head the ball down so Mark Schwarzer was not able to get to it.

‘For the celebration I was so tired, it was extra-time, and I didn't have the energy to run around like a lunatic as I normally would. I just went to ground and all the players jumped on top of me.’Not only was it Sinclair’s best Chelsea game, it was also his last. He had pulled a groin muscle during it and with all subs used, stayed on, worsening the injury to the extent it ended his season. In the summer, with Chelsea targeting more international stars, he was sold at the age of 26 to Leicester where he would play for the next six seasons, which included in a 2000 League Cup final win over Tranmere Rovers in the final months of the old Wembley Stadium.He admits to being sad when a place of such special memories was demolished and he did not have the chance to play at the new Wembley before retiring. Instead his visits have included supporting Chelsea there and also working for Chelsea TV at our finals, and he will be part of the coverage on the website and 5th Stand app today, with the Matchday Live show beginning at 4pm. Which brings us smoothy to this big encounter between his two former clubs.‘I've got friends at both football clubs that I made over the years, I’m still connected to both clubs, and I know how important this game is.

‘You know the history of the FA Cup, which obviously Chelsea are steeped in. Leicester are trying to win it to add to trophies they've won recently over the years such as the Premier League and, back in my time when they won the League Cup as well, so it's going to be a great game and I am really looking forward to it.‘I know Leicester won the league a few years ago but this side’s up there as the best they've had for a long time.‘The way both teams are suited to play means it's going to be an intriguing game. I think Chelsea will have the majority of the ball possession, try to tire Leicester out and Leicester will be organised with a mid to deep block and try to play on the counter-attack, which when Jamie Vardy is on form is a real threat, with Kelechi Iheanacho as well.’Looking at the other side in action, as a former Chelsea youth product himself, Sinclair has a special interest in the development of players such as Mason Mount.‘He’s been fantastic with his form under Frank Lampard and then continuing under Thomas Tuchel. He is the stand-out player and it was quite fitting he got the goal that made sure Chelsea are in the Champions League final.

‘Tuchel has also spoken about the importance of Kante, he has been magnificent recently and I think he’ll have a big part in the final, and obviously he has an affiliation with Leicester City so I guess this will be a real special game for him, and for Ben Chilwell.‘Ben recently has been fantastic. He found it difficult when the new manager came in, maybe because his match fitness wasn't quite up to scratch, but certainly over the last few weeks he has been in great form which is good news for Chelsea, and good news for England as well going into the European Championships.‘Kante’s form and Mount’s form are two that standout in midfield areas and the resurgence of Rudiger under Thomas Tuchel has been fantastic. He was like a man possessed in the semi-final of the Champions League and has been an important part of the improvement.

‘It will be a really interesting final on what is a big pitch with some really good, talented players who will be trying to affect the game.’And who knows, for someone out there in this match, it may be the chance for a moment in a Wembley cup final that in years to come he will be looking back on as his career high point, just as Frank Sinclair does today.