Wilkin salutes his players but retains focus on Stockport

Brackley Town striker Lee Ndlovu clashes with Stockport County's Dan Cowan

Wilkin has already taken Wrexham to the Buildbase FA Trophy final and now Saints are just two games from booking their place at one of football’s most iconic stadiums.

Tuesday’s rearranged 2-1 quarter-final replay victory over Stockport County saw Saints make history by reaching the last four of the competition for the first time in the club’s history. Ironically, Saints lock horns with County again on Saturday in Vanarama National League North and that remains Wilkin’s focus for now.

Wilkin said: “It is great for the club and for the whole town of Brackley.

“I would love to take this group of players to a Wembley final but the league remains our bread and butter and we have to keep our focus for the coming games ahead of the semi-final ties. Saturday’s league game at Stockport will be a tough one.”

Looking back on Tuesday’s thrilling, tense and tight affair at St James Park, Wilkin said: “We have a two-legged semi-final tie to look forward to after a great game this evening. We had to work hard without the ball and full credit to Stockport who played well and had a lot of the ball.

“The goal by Shane [Byrne] was fantastic, it was a goal worthy of winning the tie and sometimes you just need something special like that. We needed to hit back quickly having conceded.”