JOSH Sheehan wants to make it third time lucky at Wembley.

The Welsh midfielder has twice been on the losing side in play-off finals at his former club Newport County and knows how tough it can be to lose a major showpiece game under the arch.

After losing to a late goal against Tranmere Rovers in 2019, the Exiles were then beaten by a single goal by Morecambe two years later.

Ever since Wanderers beat Accrington Stanley in the semi-final, fans have been counting down to the big day, and Sheehan is keen to make his latest experience count.

“It’s a massive achievement getting there and we’ve been hearing the fans singing about it, so it gives you a buzz, no question,” he told The Bolton News.

“We know what it means to the town and to everybody but we have got to go there and win, otherwise you don’t really remember the other team in the final.

“Wembley will be a good day out but we need to go there and win, or it just isn’t the same when you play in this type of game.”

Sheehan’s season has been a slow burner but he appears to have timed his best run of form for the final, impressing in Wanderers’ last league game at Sheffield Wednesday.

The midfielder - who is he only member of the Bolton squad to play in all seven games in the Papa Johns Trophy - expects nerves to play a part in the game but he believes Bolton’s best chance of success is not to allow them to compromise their approach.

“I think we have to concentrate on what we are doing,” he said. “When you can come away from home to a club like Sheffield Wednesday which had been flying, then go a goal down, and come back to play the way we did and get a result, well if we keep that going we should have no problems at all.

“We have to believe in ourselves. There is pressure in every game at this stage of the season and there will be at Wembley too. But if we play like that, then we win more times than we lose, I’ll tell you that.

“As long as we can be brave, play our way, the way the manager wants us to play then I’m sure we will be alright.”