Shrewsbury Town set off to Wembley to soak up Checkatrade Trophy final build-up

Players and staff depart Montgomery Waters Meadow for their London base at 1.30pm. They will have a chance to sample the national stadium before Sunday’s Checkatrade Trophy final.

Hurst wants Town – who will also train in the capital tomorrow – to familiarise themselves with their settings for Sunday’s clash with Lincoln, which will be watched more than 37,000 supporters.

While a number of Hurst’s former Grimsby players have tasted a Wembley final before, a section of Shrewsbury’s squad have not played at the stadium. The boss wants to remove any possibility of his players feeling awestruck.

“I knew that Wednesday was coming in terms of all the press, which is very different and we’ve tried to get most of the players to have their little turn and feel part of the build-up,” said Hurst after his players faced the local and national written and broadcast media on Wednesday.

“One thing I’m conscious of is that I want them to enjoy what is a different build-up to a game. It’s part of the experience, the four or five days prior to the actual all-important bit when the referee blows his whistle.”

A big crowd is not new to Town this season after they played in front of 39,867 fans at the London Stadium against West Ham in the FA Cup.

But Hurst said getting his players familiarised with their surroundings will be key for 100 per cent focus on Sunday’s final.

“You have to conduct yourself in a way but yes, that’s the point of going down (early),” he added.

“You get to see the dressing room, the playing surface and enormity of the ground. If you haven’t been before, and even if you’ve been in the stands, it’s different thinking ‘I’m going to be running around on that’.

“The thing you can’t replicate is obviously the fans. But everything else it’s trying to get them to understand this is where we’re going to be, this is where you’ll sit, this is the dressing room. Little things like this is where the toilets are.

“Just getting used to it. They can do all the pictures. We’ll make them aware of where family and friends will be sitting. So when we arrive on Sunday there isn’t a need for that.

“They might have a quick five minutes to walk around again, as in a normal away game where you have a look at this pitch. But it’s trying to take away being in awe of it.”