Bolton Wanderers vs Shrewsbury Town

Sheehan’s reward for persistence
and peaking again at Sheffield
Wednesday was a place in
Wanderers’ starting line-up at
Wembley for the Papa Johns
Trophy final.
And with the football gods smiling
on him again, he was also able
to enjoy a fitting first Wembley
triumph at the fourth attempt,
having twice lost in play-off finals
and to Tottenham Hotspur as a
Newport County player.
“It was a bit surreal really. Going
back a year I was probably just
starting to walk again and then
a year later I’m at Wembley and
we’re winning,” added Sheehan,
who barely out a foot wrong in
helping Wanderers cruise to a 4-0
victory over Plymouth Argyle
to secure the Whites’ first
knock-out trophy in 34
years.
“It can change that
quickly and you’ve
got to take your
opportunity. It was
a hell of a day.
The game was
perfect. To
do that with
that big of
a crowd and the stage it was on, it
couldn’t have gone any better.
“I’d played there three times and
lost every one. So to finally win
there and to win for this club, with
how big it is and what it’s been
through, was even more special.”
Sheehan’s value to the cause
was further underlined as he then
helped Wanderers picked up
seven points from three games
following Wembley before he
was given a breather and named
among the substitutes at Burton
Albion on Tuesday night.
With Ian Evatt’s re-shuffled side
picking up a further valuable point
from a 1-1 draw, the stage is now
set for Wanderers to try and push
on and secure the play-off place
which will keep their promotion
hopes alive.
It’s still a demanding task but a
three-game home run, starting with
today’s visit of Shrewsbury Town,
gives the Whites every chance.
And Sheehan is confident
Wanderers have what it takes if
they can repeat their ‘A’ game often
enough to meet the season-long
target.
“If we don’t get in the play-offs
then I don’t think as a club, as a
team, the management – that’s
not what we’re about. That’s what
we’ve wanted since the start of the
season,” he said.
“The Papa Johns Trophy was a
good day out and a great thing
for the club but the main thing has
always been the league and that’s
the full focus for the last couple of
weeks of the season.
“If we can believe in ourselves, be
confident and know how good we
can be, then I’m sure we’ll be all
right. But we’ve got to show that
when it’s tough in games and when
we’re under the cosh. That’s when
we’ve got to dig in and show our
personality and show our strength
as a team.
“Our home form all season has
been good and that’s what we’ve
got to continue this week. We’ve
got to make sure we win our home
games. It’s still in our hands and
we’ve got to do everything we can.
“We want to make it a special
season. With this team we feel like
we’ve got an opportunity to do
that. We just want to keep doing
what we can and hopefully that’s
enough and we can get to where
we want to get to.”
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