Wembley goal hero Nahki Wells admitted it felt like a “miracle” to even make the Vertu Trophy final let alone bag a winning brace after an injury left him sweating on his involvement.
The 35-year-old forward had been a major doubt after suffering a groin strain in the 3-0 victory at AFC Wimbledon just six days earlier, which meant he barely trained.
But he not only made the starting line-up, he scoring twice – one in each half – to ensure the Hatters beat Stockport County 3-1 to lift the silverware for the second time in the club’s history.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been into a football match where I’ve had such uncertainty on how the game will go,” Wells told BBC Three Counties when asked how close he was to missing out entirely.
“I’ve been very lucky and fortunate in my career to be quite healthy for large parts, but today was a tough one, that’s no surprise and a big, big credit to the support staff, the physios, the doctors to get me right as the last two weeks, I probably trained once.
“I knew I was playing this morning, but if you asked me a day ago I wouldn’t have been so certain.
“Today was about trying to battle through whatever adversity and difficulties as in moments like this you always find a way.
“I woke up and I felt as ready and rejuvenated as much as I possibly can. I’ve done as much prep as I can to help get me to that and accomplish 90 minutes, and after the few weeks I’ve had, it almost feels like a miracle, but a higher power has definitely played its part.”
Luton had fallen behind early on, but responded well to turn the game around before the break, first through Emilio Lawrence’s equaliser and then the goal of the game, where Wells plucked Kal Naismith’s pass out of the sky with such precision it took out a defender and gave him the freedom of Wembley to pick his spot.
“The first one is I’ve just got a really good touch, something I wish I could do more often, but it’s all about that,” Wells said, adding: “It’s fallen into my path and the second bit’s the easy bit, just putting it away. I’m just grateful, happy to do that as it really gave us a lift.
“Big, big credit to Emilio who got the first as that shifted the momentum and then mine’s put us in front.
“Everything came full circle and I just felt like we were at it today and we weren’t going to let it slip from that moment.”
After a thrilling first half, Luton defended manfully in the second period and Wells’ second came just as ten minutes of added time had been announced, killing off any Stockport hopes of a comeback.
“This season has been one of them, a lot of games haven’t ended like that as we haven’t had that killer instinct,” the striker said.
“We haven’t gone and solidified the game and we’ve had to ride out to the last second or we’ve conceded, but experienced from the occasions and from the trauma that we’ve had this year, us being able to really go to the end.
“Thankfully it dropped and I was able to get the goal as at that point that was when I really believed, OK we’ve done it.
“Up until then we had to deal with a lot and credit to them, they went to the very end.”
The victory added another memorable Wembley moment to Wells’ career, that ranks among the best, having previously experienced both success and disappointment at the national stadium.
“I’ve been here in the Capital One Cup final and it’s gone significantly wrong [a 5-0 defeat for Bradford against Swansea], but that was a great achievement for a League Two side,” he said.
“Then League Two promotion, scoring, Championship play-off [Huddersfield beat Reading on penalties], because that’s the pinnacle of all our careers, trying to get to the Premier League, that one was amazing.
“I didn’t score in that, but today is up there. A couple of goals at Wembley, lifting a trophy, a real high and a big day in my life and my career.”
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