Steven Schumacher is relishing the chance to go to Wembley to try and win promotion with the backing of a huge turn-out of Wanderers’ fans.
The Whites can now start planning for a trip to the capital to face Stockport County in the League One play-off final on Sunday-week after getting past Bradford City in a tense semi-final showdown.
A superb strike from substitute Xavier Simons’ earned Wanderers a 1-0 win at a bouncing Valley Parade to take the Whites through 2-0 on aggregate.
Simons’ late strike – following two brilliant second-half saves from Jack Bonham – sparked joyous scenes from the 2,150 travelling fans in a sold-out crowd.
And Schumacher hopes they have even more to celebrate as Wanderers bid to finish the job against their North-West rivals in just over a week’s time.
“It was a tough game, no doubt. We knew every game we've had against Bradford this season has been really close. There hasn't been loads of clear-cut chances, not many shots on target because the two teams are really well organised, so we expected it to be difficult, which it was.
“It was really intense, the crowd and the atmosphere played a part in that and I'm just delighted that we've done enough to win the game and get to Wembley, which was the main objective.
“Our supporters have been brilliant, especially away from home all season. They've travelled so well in all of their numbers and tonight was a really good night for us.
“We can obviously go down to Wembley now with loads more fans than tonight and hopefully get the result that we're all desperate for.”
Patience paid off for Simons, who has had limited game-time in recent months but was rewarded for his dedication by coming off the bench to decide the tie when he rammed home a perfect pull-back from Thierry Gale.
"I said I needed one chance and I would take it and luckily I have,” said the match-winner, who shared the praise with player of the match Bonham.
"We brought the big man in to make big saves and he's kept it 0-0 to settle it down. It's not job done yet. We set out at the start of the season to get promoted and we're well on course, one more to go and hopefully we can get it done and get to where we want to be.”
Bonham made it back-to-back clean sheets over the two legs of the semi-finals as key part of a brilliant defensive display which repelled Bradford’s bid to fight back in the second half.
“Today my team-mates love me and I’m delighted to get the win,” said Bonham. “They went for it in the end and we just had to weather it but we knew we'd probably get a chance on the break and Xav got it for us.
“The fans were incredibly loud. They've been brilliant all season and are probably the best ones I've played in front of so all credit to them and they'll get behind us at Wembley and hopefully we'll get over the line again.”
Watch all the post-match interviews on Wanderers TV