SHAUN PEJIC has very special memories of Wrexham’s success and jokingly claims if it wasn’t for him they’d have never made it to the final, writes NICK HARRISON.

“The journey all started with my first goal for Wrexham against Notts County…so in theory, if it wasn’t for me, this would never have happened,” joked Pejic, who came off the bench early in the game to replace defender Steve Roberts.

“The first memory I have was the bus ride down to the Millennium Stadium.

“I remember driving closer to the stadium and looking out the window at all these people wearing Wrexham tops, walking around the streets cheering the bus as we went by.

“It was an amazing moment for the team, realising how big this game was for the fans.

“Then arriving in the changing rooms and walking out on to pitch was something I’ll never forget. The main thing I noticed was how big and clean everything was. The grass on the pitch was like a carpet, so I remember thinking how excited I was to get the game started.

“During the warm up I noticed Steve Roberts wasn’t moving quite right, so I warmed up as if I was playing, just in case.

“Then, 15 or so minutes into the game Robbo had to come off injured, so I got the nod to come on.

“The first pass I made was a successful pass to Carlos Edwards, so that got me settled into the game. There was another moment just after this easy pass where I cleared a ball out of play after a breakaway from Southend, I returned back to where I was meant to be, but then realising the crowd were cheering and clapping me seconds later.

“This made me realise how big this stadium was and how many Wrexham fans were cheering us on. It was a great feeling and made me even more focused to win this game.”

Pejic, who is now living in Canada and working for EA Sports as an associate producer on the FIFA video game, admitted the celebrations that night became a bit of a blur.

“When the final whistle went, it was an amazing feeling where every player and staff ran onto the pitch to celebrate,” added Pejic, whose father Mel, the former Reds defender, was physio that day.

“The crowd were going crazy. Reporters were talking to all the players and pictures were being taken. Everything about it was a special memory.

“In the changing rooms after the game we all signed each others tops and cracked open some bubbly, but after that was a bit of a blur”