Gethin Jones can’t wait for the chance to fulfil a lifelong ambition by playing at Wembley.
The Wanderers’ vice-captain was there with Everton as part of their travelling FA Cup semi-final squad in 2016.
This time the 27-year-old is set to play a more active role when the Whites face Plymouth Argyle in the final of the Papa Johns Trophy.
And the defender – one of the Whites’ longest-serving players – is delighted to be doing it with Wanderers after playing such a leading role in their recovery under boss Ian Evatt.
“When you’re a young lad you’ve always wanted to play at Wembley,” said Jones – one of Evatt’s first signings as manager in the summer of 2020 following Wanderers’ relegation to the basement division.
“To go out there on Sunday and play in a final at Wembley in front of a big crowd will be really special.
“It’s unbelievable seeing so many fans travelling down there and it’s something we’ve been keeping our eyes on as players.
“It shows the club’s on the way back and as players we’re made up that we’ve got the club back there.
“Not many of us have played at Wembley before, so to play there with such a big crowd is going to be an amazing achievement for all of us.
“We can take a minute but we want to come back with that trophy, so we just need to get down to business and do our jobs there.”
Wanderers will have 34,000 travelling fans inside Wembley on the club’s first visit to the national stadium in 13 years.
That trip ended in an FA Cup semi-final defeat and Jones is determined to try and produce a different outcome as the Whites aim to get their hands on a first piece of knock-out silverware since 1989.
“We’ve got that mentality where if we don’t win a game we’ll be disappointed,” added the Welshman.
“It’s a big day out for everyone but we’ll be really disappointed if we don’t come out of Wembley with a trophy.
“We’ve said all season our main objective is promotion, but we said ‘listen, it’s the chance to win the club another trophy so let’s go there and let’s do that on Sunday’.”