Dion Charles wants another Wembley goal to add to his collection as he aims to help fire Wanderers to promotion, writes Pete Oliver.
Charles was on the scoresheet with the second goal as the Whites over-powered Plymouth Argyle 4-0 to lift the Papa Johns Trophy last season.
The Northern Ireland international believes the memories of that Wembley win can help Ian Evatt’s men when they face Oxford United in Saturday’s League One play-off final.
And the Wanderers’ frontman is hungry to strike again with three goals in his last three games following a recent return from injury putting him just one away from a half-century for the club.
“It’s a massive occasion. It's not often you get to play in front of crowds like that,” said Charles.
“We’ve got a large part of our squad that did it (last year), so it's going to be a good experience for us again.
“I'm feeling brilliant. It was a long time while I was out injured. The gaffer gave me the chance to bed myself back in in the last few games and for me, now, it's to repay him and show him what I can do at Wembley.
“I've worked all my career to get to where I am now. To score at Wembley is probably the pinnacle of any career, so hopefully I can do it again.
Charles’ double at Barnsley in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals took the former Accrington Stanley man to 20 goals for the season for the Whites.
The 28-year-old became the first Wanderers’ player since John McGinlay in the mid-1990s to record back-to-back 20-goal hauls.
His return after two months out with a knee injury was perfectly timed for the play-offs with Wanderers getting past Barnsley to put themselves one win away from a second promotion in three years.
Ian Evatt’s men beat Oxford 5-0 in Charles’ absence in mid-March but the Whites’ leading scorer insists that will not figure in Wanderers’ thinking ahead of Saturday’s meeting and the chance to earn a place in the Championship.
“Maybe it’s in the psychology for them. We don’t look at all into that. It's in the past and we just need to concentrate on what we can do in this game,” Charles added.
“We’re going there with no complacency, but we’ve got a gameplan and we’ll stick to it and hopefully it comes off.
“Since I've been at this football club, we've progressed every single year and the next step is promotion.”
Watch Dion’s pre-Wembley interview on Wanderers TV