WITH competition for places tougher than ever ahead of Swindon Town’s play-off final at Wembley, striker Jon Obika will be ready if he is called upon after scoring the winner against Sheffield United.

Obika came on during the second half of Town’s record-breaking 5-5 draw with The Blades after captain Nathan Thompson was forced off with a hamstring injury.

The 24-year-old scored Town’s final goal to make it 5-3 on the night and 7-4 on aggregate, before two late goals from Sheffield left Swindon clinging on for a narrow win.

Obika told the Advertiser that he was delighted to come off the bench to score what ended up being the crucial goal and hopes he can do the same at Wembley on Sunday.

“There is a lot of excitement and everyone is very focused this week,” said Obika. “We went through a rollercoaster of emotions after the last game, even neutrals probably had the same feeling as it was just up and down.

“I was delighted to score what turned out to be the goal that got us to Wembley and we are just happy we are past that chapter and are looking forward to the final.

“It will be much tighter in the final. Preston will come out strong and that is what we are preparing for in training.

“If it is a Saturday game, we usually find out on Friday if we are playing or not, so everyone is just focused on doing their part and when the gaffer tells us the team we will be ready.”

Obika, who has scored several crucial late goals from the bench for Swindon this season, said that it would be natural if there are some nerves among his teammates ahead of the final, but is confident Town can get the job done.

“I think there will always be nerves and I think it is good to have nerves because you know what you’re getting yourself into,” he added.

“But this group is very tight and very confident, so we will be willing each other to do well.

“Some of the boys were saying that we can’t believe the season is almost over and we are going to miss training week in, week out, but it is definitely going to be a great experience and a great time to put in a performance.

“Every game is different but we can take some information from the games we against Preston earlier this season.

“We can look at how the players play, their strengths and weaknesses, but we don’t know how they will set up.”

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