Ben Herd / Ben Herd / 03 September 2008 / Leave a comment

The Shrewsbury man reveals how injury nearly scuppered his dream and how he still finds time to cheer on his team.

After drawing 2-2 against a strong Notts County side, it's so far so good for our league season.

However, this week sees the return of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. For those of you who are Premiership aficionados, you may not be aware of the format, so here's a brief summary: the country is split into regions, so clubs don't have to travel too far (if you count a five-hour trip to Exeter not far!) it is a knock-out competition until the semi-final at which point it's played over two legs on Sky.

It's not the most glamorous of cups but it does offer a chance to play at Wembley in the final. Many clubs don't take the cup seriously but, last year, MK Dons were champions in League Two as well as winning the cup, proving that by playing a strong team in the cup, they were able to take the same momentum back into league games as well.

The season before last, we beat MK Dons to reach Wembley for the League Two Play-Off Final against Bristol Rovers.

It is a young boy's dream to play at Wembley, but it almost didn't happen for me. I'd been out of action for 10 weeks with a bad ankle injury and needed a steroid injection to get a chance to play that day. However, the Gaffer later told me that I was not going to be included in the squad. I was gutted.

But during the warm up, one of the lads got injured. Fifteen minutes before kick-off, I was told that I would be in the starting line-up, not even having kicked a ball or laced my boots! The day was an emotional rollercoaster, from the amazing feeling of walking out on to the pitch and singing the National Anthem in front of 70,000 fans and my family, to the heartbreak of losing 3-1.

As a fan, I've sang my heart out from the terraces at Tottenham Hotspur. I know what it's like to passionately follow your team which has made me understand, as a player, to always give 100 per cent and to appreciate the fan's support. I still hold a season ticket for my boyhood club and with Saturday afternoon fixtures a rarity in the Premiership, I'm able to go to more games than you may think.

Tottenham have been very active in the transfer market this summer with some good acquisitions. The one who has caught my eye in the few games he has played so far, is Luka Modric. For a young player, he seems to have an abundance of time with the ball at his feet and was instrumental for Croatia in the European Championships.

Dimitar Berbatov's move from Tottenham to Manchester United is a far cry from lower league transfers! I believe £170,000 that we paid for Grant Holt is the most any League Two team has spent this summer. The majority of transfers involve no fee - although I know Shrewsbury turned down several multi-million pound bids for me!

From a personal point of view, the transfer rumour mill does become tedious with so much hype in the media.

With no Premiership action this weekend, England is the focus of attention. They take on Andorra in the World Cup qualifiers on Saturday and I fully expect them to smash Andorra, although Capello has left out some in-form players in my opinion; namely Michael Owen and my old team-mate, Ashley Young. Even with these absentees I am predicting goals and backing there to be Over 4.5 goals in the match at [2.04].