He’s played every single minute in the Vertu Trophy this season – and now he’s just days away from walking out at Wembley for the first time.

However it’s fair to say that James Shea and the Hatters’ road to the final has been anything but straightforward.

Back in October, the 34-year-old poured his heart out in a frank, emotional and, at times, candid post-match interview after the Town side slumped to a group stage defeat at Cambridge United just days after parting company with Matt Bloomfield.

“It’s up there with the worst feelings I’ve had in football,” says the goalkeeper, who is aiming to keep his place in the starting XI having played in all seven matches in the competition this season. “It felt just awful.

“It was bad, especially considering we put out one of our strongest teams and were playing Cambridge’s second string. And they battered us.

“We came off thinking ‘it can’t get any worse’ – and it actually did.

“I gave that interview after the game, I probably shouldn’t have said what I said, but it was emotional. I was just gutted to be honest.

“We’d just lost the manager, we thought we could go to Cambridge and get back on track and put on a performance, but in the end it was the complete opposite.”

With the Hatters struggling to find form in League One having suffered back-to-back relegations, Shea, who has seen it all in his career at Kenilworth Road, says the Town have manager Jack Wilshere to thanks for their change in fortunes.

“The hardest thing the gaffer’s had to do is to turn around the momentum. It has been a good 18 months of losing. You can’t all of a sudden click your fingers and think it’s going to turn,” explains the stopper.

“Now we’ve lost once in the past 11 games. Momentum is massive, and it works both ways, and hopefully we’ve turned the corner.

“There’s a feelgood factor around the place and it shows in the results. We just hope we can carry that on at Wembley and take it into the final five games.”

Shea, whose only previous experience of Wembley was as an unused substitute for former club AFC Wimbledon in their play-off final win over Plymouth in 2016, now believes a victory on Sunday under the arch against Stockport could stand the Town in good stead for a return in the play-offs come May.

“I’m excited and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s always been a dream of mine to play at Wembley,” the former Arsenal academy graduate says.

“In nine seasons I’ve seen a lot. It’s been a rollercoaster. I think there’s only been one season that we’ve got to the end of where we’ve had nothing to play for. It’s been some journey, especially going from League Two to the Premier League.

“The last couple of seasons have been tough, as you can imagine, but it’s part of the journey.

“Hopefully we’ve turned the corner and have momentum in the right direction.”