AFTER weeks of waiting, the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Wembley Stadium is now upon us and none of the lads can wait.

Unfortunately I won’t be playing because of my knee injury.

But I will still be a part of things and will be stressing to the lads the importance of not letting the day pass you by.

I’m lucky enough to have played at Wembley three times during my career, as well as at the Millennium Stadium.

And, while days like that are always the pinnacle of your career, the first time you experience it all it can easily just slip by.

You’re looking out for where your friends and family are, how many fans have come up, how good Wembley really is and before you know it the game has ended.

It’s hard to explain but as a footballer you have to just think about what’s happening inside the white lines and if you do that then everything outside of those lines will take care of themselves.

You also have to make sure you enjoy it and I’m sure everyone associated with Southend will do that on Sunday.

To have sold more than 30,000 tickets is a fantastic achievement and I’m as excited as anyone to see the Blue Army packed together and making what I’m sure will be an incredible amount of noise. I travelled up to Cardiff as a fan to watch the team beat Lincoln City in the League Two play-off final a few years ago and the club also had two other visits to the Millennium Stadium before that.

But there is just something extra special associated with Wembley and it’s the home of football, so it’s great we’re going to sample that on Sunday.

Crewe will be tough opposition and we know what they’re all about.

They’re well known for a total football passing style, but they mixed that up against us in the play-offs last season and also went more direct when they had to.

They were also quite dangerous from set pieces and that was ultimately the difference between the two teams, so that’s something the lads will have to be wary of this weekend.

It’s going to be very close and I’ll be the one hobbling around on the day!

I had the first footballing operation I’ve ever had on Tuesday and it was a huge experience. I massively underestimated the seriousness of it and just presumed it would be a quick pop in, pop out, but it wasn’t like that at all.

I’ve had my medial ligament reconstructed, but the aim is to be back for the start of pre-season training and I will work hard to try and make that happen.