Payne excited by first taste of Wembley
Stefan Payne is another one of Town's players preparing for the trip to Wembley, to face Lincoln City in the Checkatrade final.
The striker says the big occasion at Wembley won't faze him or his teammates and is looking forward to the challenge, he said: “Following on from Monday’s game when we got the win and bounced back, it’s now time to prepare and concentrate on Wembley.
“It’s a nice week to kind of concentrate on something else rather than keep concentrating on the league week in week out, but like I said, we can just have that week where we can come away from the league, rest our minds and prepare for Wembley and after Sunday, we go again.”
Payne is one of Town’s players that hasn’t yet played at Wembley and is relishing the opportunity to realise a childhood dream, he said: “100% it’s exciting to play there, I’ve wanted to play there all my life really. It’s where you want to play, it’s the main stadium.
“If you’re from England, you want to play at Wembley stadium don’t you? You see some players who play at a high level don’t always get to play there, for someone like my self who is getting to play there it’s great.”
Payne also reiterated that there is a game to be played although there is a trophy on the line: “But once you get there, it’s the same pitch and the same team. You’re still playing against 11 players and the same outcome, you want to go and win the game.
“Even though we are playing for a trophy, you get there, you take it in and absorb it and then that’s it. You’re back on the same pitch, playing with the same players against another team.
“We do want to enjoy it, but in that 90 minutes we have got to switch off from it all and concentrate on the same thing we have been doing week in week out to wanting to win games.
“We don’t want to go there and let the occasion get the better of us, we are going to get there earlier, have a look around, absorb it and then it's business."
For more information about Wembley visit https://www.shrewsburytown.com/news/Wembley/