At the age of 34, Steven Craig knows that Saturday’s League Two play-off final may be his last chance to play on a stage such as Wembley.

“From my point of view, I might never get there again so I know when I get on that pitch that it will be do-or-die for me,” he said.

The striker is no stranger to the big occasion, having plied his trade at Scotland’s national stadium, Hampden Park, four times.

However, Craig, who was born in a Scottish town named Blackburn, left Hampden empty handed after each visit, having lost in two semi-finals and one final.

On the one time he did taste victory there he also found the net as Ross County knocked giants Celtic out in the last four of the 2010 Scottish Cup thanks to a 2-0 win.

A then 29-year-old Craig played in the final but couldn’t prevent his side losing 3-0 to Dundee United.

“It’s been three semi-finals and a final at Hampden, and I got beat in the final. It would be nice to go to Wembley and win it. You don’t want to go that far and lose, do you?” he said.

“I won’t come off that pitch with a shred of energy left in me – I know that’s been the mentality of the boys all season.

“The gaffer asked us at the start of the season ‘just give me ten months of your life’ and that’s we’ve done. Nobody will need to get up for the game.

“Playing in front of 30-40,000 people at the national stadium on live TV is what dreams are made of. I’ve been lucky enough to play at Hampden Park four times in Scotland, so it will be nice to get a victory at Wembley on my first go.”

Craig arrived at Adams Park in July 2013 after putting pen to paper on a one-year deal following his release from Partick Thistle.

His first season at the club yielded five goals but one of those, the second goal in the 3-0 victory against Torquay which helped pull of ‘The Great Escape’, will go down in Wanderers folklore.

The forward’s latest strike in a Wycombe shirt was significant in helping see off Plymouth in the play-off semi-finals, as well as being his 100th career goal. Craig said: “I had a chat with the gaffer at the end of last season and I’ve usually found in my career that teams who’ve struggled the season before usually have a really good season and I said that to the gaffer.

“I said ‘you’ll probably find next year that we’ll surpass your expectations’. I never once thought we would get this far. I fancied us to maybe sneak a play-off position but after pre-season we really kicked on.

“We had a good pre-season, we started the season really well and the gaffer kept a mainstay of the boys and recruited really, really well.

“It’s been strange losing Gary Doherty and then discovering Alfie Mawson. Things have gone for us at the right times, but the staff have got to take massive credit for that.”

Gareth Ainsworth himself said that the experience of playing at Wembley passed him by when he was a 21-year-old – something which will not happen to Craig.

“I’ve said to a couple of the young boys just try and take it all in from when you get on the bus Friday – I know we’re trying to get a visit to see Wembley on Friday – soak up the atmosphere and take it all in because moments like that can pass you by,” he said.

“I’m fortunate that most of the highlights in my career put me in the experienced bracket. They’ve got to be sure to take it all in, it will be a fabulous day, there’s an air of confidence about the place at the minute and that’s the perfect way to be before the biggest game of the season.”

There will be a number of people in Scotland with their eyes fixed on events at Wembley on Saturday evening, and the striker hopes to give them and those who’ve travelled down to see him play a reason to celebrate at the final whistle.

Craig said: “One or two people that I haven’t spoke to for about ten years have come out of the woodwork, but I’ve got close family and friends coming down.

“I’ve only got eight people coming down, which is nice as their support has been brilliant. It’s hard for them because it’s a long way to travel and it’s not cheap nowadays.

“The ones that can’t make it will watch it on TV but I’m sure there will be a good after party.”