Mansfield Town boss David Flitcroft wants to be a manager at Wembley

Picture by Gareth Williams/AHPIX.com; Football; Sky Bet League Two; MK Dons v Mansfield Town; 4/5/2019 KO 15.00; Stadium MK; copyright picture; Howard Roe/AHPIX.com; Mansfield boss David Flitcroft

After suffering the hurt of missing out on automatic promotion at MK Dons on Saturday, attention has quickly had to swing to Thursday’s first leg of the play-off semi-finals at Newport and Flitcroft said he was definitely looking ahead and not back at what might have been.

“I see this as a brilliant opportunity and it excites me,” he smiled.

“I woke up on Sunday morning and thought, wow, I could actually be a manager at Wembley.

“Wembley has been a big part of me growing up as a kid as a passionate and proud England fan.

“It’s a special, unique place and somewhere I’ve been as an assistant manager. I would love to go back there as a manager. The prize is a phenomenal one.”

He said the players were also now looking forward and competition for a starting place tomorrow very high.

“Training has been competitive as I have demanded. There will be apologies for getting kicked in training. It is what it is,” he said.

“If we get injuries we get injuries. I have told them to show me they want to be involved in another massive game for this football club.”