Fit-again Town defender Cameron Burgess has a special reason for wanting to go all the way to Wembley with the club this season.
The Scots-born Aussie youth and U23 international, who missed nine games after suffering a nasty facial injury against Bristol Rovers in September, confirmed he is back to his best with a starring role in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Exeter.
Next up for the Blues is tomorrow night’s Papa Johns Trophy clash with Portsmouth at Portman Road, which will decide who makes it into the last 16 of a competition that offers what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at Wembley in the final.
It was a case of ‘so near and yet so far’ for giant defender Burgess, who was on loan at Salford from Scunthorpe for the 2019/20 season, when he helped in a big way to book the Ammies an appearance at the national stadium.
After making his debut for them in the final group game, a 2-0 home win over Aston Villa U21, he scored against both Port Vale and Accrington Stanley in the knockout phase, before his defensive performance in the semi-final at Newport County played a big part in earning Salford a 0-0 draw, before they went on to win the penalty shootout 6-5 and secure a Wembley showdown with Portsmouth.
Burgess, 27, recalled: "I can say I helped to get a team to Wembley but unfortunately for me it never happened because of Covid. The final was delayed for a year so there was no way I could play in it. I actually moved to Accrington in the summer of 2020 so my time at Salford was up soon after we qualified for the final.
"It wasn’t to be on that occasion so it would be nice to win through with Ipswich and actually get to a Wembley final. If we can carry on the way we’ve been going, getting wins, hopefully we can do it. But there’s a long way to go yet and we have to get past Portsmouth to start with.
"We’re out of the group stage and it’s a proper knockout competition now, which means the number of teams gets narrowed down and our chances of reaching the final increase. But I’m not going to look too far ahead. Let’s just concentrate on getting through against Portsmouth and see where it takes us.
"We view all games the same. We know it will be tough but we are looking to advance as far as we can and the further we go, the bigger an achievement it will be.
"Every time we’re involved in a cup — or trophy — we’re looking to win and move on, and I think you’ll see that on Tuesday. We want to win every game because winning breeds confidence.”
Town boss Kieran McKenna will probably make plenty of changes from Saturday’s line-up, but no matter which team he selects he will regard it as capable of beating Pompey.
Whatever the starting line-up tomorrow evening, Burgess promised everyone will be firmly focused on securing a place in the next round. "The way we train means there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that they are ready when required, no matter where or when, league or cup,” he said.
"We’ve seen that on a number of occasions this season, with players coming back from injury and things like that. We train hard every single day and because of the intensity it means players are up to speed and ready to go when required.”
Looking at the situation in general, Burgess added: "Things are going well and we’ve been on a pretty impressive run. In the league we’re getting closer to Plymouth at the top and averaging more than two points a game, which is always a good sign in the league.
"We’re ticking the games off and we’re improving on where we were last year, so the club’s in a good place at the moment.
"We’ve been pretty unlucky with the injuries we’ve had this season, not just the number but the severity of them, but players are coming back now.
"We’re tough and resilient as a group and everybody mucks in. It’s good to have the injured guys getting fit again because we’re coming up to a really busy part of the season in the next few weeks.
"We’re a close-knit group. Everyone’s involved and everyone’s helping each other out. It’s a joy to be part of it, that’s for sure.”
Among those coming back from injury is striker Gassan Ahadme, who came on as a late sub at Exeter on Saturday but is ineligible for tomorrow’s game having appeared and scored twice for Burton in the competition prior to joining the Blues.
The Moroccan will be eyeing more minutes in the FA Cup tie against Buxton on Sunday afternoon, having made four substitute appearances since he arrived from the Brewers at the end of the summer transfer window.
"He’s feeling good and strong,” said Burgess. "He’s a fit boy, which we saw when he came in, and hopefully, when he’s back and can stay fit, he will be a handful for any opposition.”