Shrewsbury's Alex Rodman grateful for another crack at Wembley joy

The Shrewsbury winger’s first experience of playing at the national stadium was hampered as back spasms prevented him from being a contender in Paul Hurst’s starting line-up against Lincoln.

The 31-year-old came from the bench to play 25 minutes but was unable to help Town avoid a 1-0 defeat against the Imps in the Checkatrade Trophy.

But Rodman, who has been a regular this season with eight goals in 54 outings, is determined to make his mark this time.

“It was a nightmare,” he said. “I didn’t know if we’d get here again.

“We may have finished in automatics, which would’ve been fantastic, or we may have lost in the semis and not gone to Wembley again.

“That back problem was an absolute non-starter to get to a level of training to put me in contention.

“It was heavily frustrating for me and more frustrating as a team we didn’t win.

“Hopefully if I start this team we can put it right.

“I’ll be aiming to make my mark in this one. Give anyone a loss in the Checkatrade and win here and no-one would say no, this is the big one.”

Hurst’s men face Rotherham for a place in the Championship next Sunday, while also bidding to end Shrewsbury’s run of four defeat in four at Wembley.

But Rodman believes it was his determination to help Town team-mates push for a top two automatic promotion spot that caused the back problems that hampered his Wembley experience.

“In hindsight if I’d have just rested it. Hindsight’s a great thing. I wanted to get back for the league games,” the wide man continued.

n Town fans are now able to buy any Wembley tickets after the venue opened up all available blocks of seats in the Shrewsbury end.

The club have an allocation of 20,000 for the final, tickets can be booked via Ticketmaster on 0844 4539031.