Their Sky Blue days long behind them, they each have an opportunity to put that right this weekend.

On Sunday, Strachan takes his Southampton side to Villa Park to take on Watford in the semi-finals of The FA Cup.

The day before, Daish, now a manager himself at tiny Havant and Waterlooville FC, will watch his own charges take on Tamworth in a semi-final of their own - The FA Trophy, in partnership with Carlsberg.

This week, Strachan and his former player met up once again, to chew over old times and look forward to their very different cup clashes.

For Daish, reaching the final of The FA Trophy - non-league's equivalent to The FA Cup - will be one of the biggest tests of his managerial career.

Although Strachan won The FA Cup as a player with Manchester United FC in 1985, he has never lifted the title as a manager.

During his five-year reign at Coventry City, the furthest he took the club was to the quarter-finals in 1998 - a feat that had not been achieved since winning The FA Cup in 1987 - when their progress was halted by a penalty shoot-out at Sheffield United.

Daish never won The FA Cup during his career as a professional footballer which started with Portsmouth in 1986 and ended with Coventry City in 1999.

This is the first time in his three years as joint manager of Havant & Waterlooville that the club has reached the semi-finals of The FA Trophy.

Victory would give Hampshire a weekend of cup celebrations with The FA Cup final to be played on Saturday, May 17, at the Millennium Stadium and The FA Trophy final to be played on Sunday, May 18, at Villa Park.

Daish said: "There's a real buzz around the south coast at the moment - Portsmouth are going for promotion and we and the Saints are both in cup competitions. All we need now is a bit of luck.

"The fans are obviously very excited but it's important that the team try to treat the match as just another game."

He keeps in touch with his former boss and is happy to learn from Strachan's success.

He said: "I've been to a couple of games at Southampton and had the odd cup of tea with Gordon afterwards. The thing he instilled in me was the work ethic - it's something I try to pass on to my players."

Strachan added: "It's all about working hard and doing it until hard work becomes a habit and is enjoyable.

"My advice to Liam as a manager would be to pick the best players and trust them. It's not about tactics - it's about hard work and his lads have worked hard to get this far in their competition.

"I'd agree with Liam that we must look at our match as just another game, too. No-one will be happier than me if we win but it's important the players keep their feet on the ground.

"We'll be training and preparing for the game as we would for any other."

Whilst Southampton have reached the final of The FA Cup on three occasions, winning it in 1976 with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United, Havant & Waterlooville have never got this far in The FA Trophy.

In its five short years, Havant & Waterlooville's record in the elite non-league knockout cup competition had been reaching the Third Round in their first season.

They made semi-final history this season only to face their league leaders and cup favourites, Tamworth FC.

Daish, who is in his third full season in charge with joint manager Mick Jenkins, see it as a chance to prove that league tables are no measure of a team's ambition when it comes to cups.

But having lost the first leg 1-0 on Saturday, April 5, he knows they will have to score at least twice when they entertain The Lambs in the decider on Saturday, April 12.

Southampton, meanwhile, will have only one chance to make it to their final when they face the Division One side.

The winners of Southampton's semi-final will face either Arsenal or Sheffield United at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Saturday, May 17.

The other semi-final of The FA Trophy is between Unibond League Premier Division side Burscough, managed by former Aston Villa star Shaun Teale, and Aylesbury United, from the Ryman League Premier Division.

Burscough and Aylesbury United have it all still to play with the first leg ending in a 1-1 draw.

The final of The FA Trophy will be played at Aston Villa FC's Villa Park for the third consecutive season on Sunday, May 18.