Wanderers return to League One duty today with their sights set on the quest to try and seal a Wembley return.
Five days on from lifting the Papa Johns Trophy with a magnificent 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle, the Whites face Argyle’s Devon neighbours Exeter City at St James’ Park.
Ian Evatt’s cup winners resume their play-off push still inside the top six places after going three weeks without a league game since drawing at then league leaders Sheffield Wednesday.
And the Wanderers’ boss and his players are intent on making it a successful run-in in a bid to seal a Wembley return via the play-offs.
“We enjoyed Sunday so much – as did everybody else. We really want to do all we can to try and get back there,” said Evatt.
“It doesn’t need me to tell them (the players) that’s what we’re in the game for – those types of moments. They’re addictive. We have to fight tooth and nail to try and replicate that and do that again.
“We’ve got an opportunity. It’s only an opportunity but those types of games are exactly why we wanted to be in football.
“It’s in our hands and that’s all we can ask for. Now it’s about replicating what we did on Sunday eight more times at least and see where that takes us.”
Wanderers face the first of two games over the Easter weekend at in-form Exeter, who are seeking a fifth successive home win.
That won’t make it easy for the Whites to extend an unbeaten away run to three games (four including Wembley) and add to their points’ tally ahead of a visit from Cambridge United on Easter Monday.
But Evatt feels his side is facing firmly back in the right direction as they look to maintain their momentum and keep the Wembley feel-good factor going.
“It’s re-focus and a re-set. Sunday was a brilliant day for so many reasons but the season isn’t over,” added the Wanderers’ boss. “We’ve got a lot of hard work to do and now’s the time to re-focus – not for pats on the back.
“What it’s done is ignite our fire. My fire has always been lit but what it did is give it a little bit of a stoke to get back there and replicate it all over again because it was enjoyable.
“I like to think I know my own squad of players. I’ve spoken a lot in the last three weeks about how re-energised I felt the players were.
“The standard of the training has been brilliant and it’s great for me to see them take that into a game like Sunday.
“The performance against Rotherham in the friendly (before Wembley) was very similar. The performance at Sheffield Wednesday was a very good one. Now, it’s about doing that all over again at Exeter on Friday.”