Manager Paul Simpson today urged Shrewsbury Town to ‘seize the moment’ as they prepare for promotion Judgment Day at Wembley.

Town do battle with Gillingham for the final place in next season’s League One tomorrow in what promises to be a tension-soaked winner-takes-all clash.

Victory for Shrewsbury would see them return to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1995, and put them alongside some of English football’s stellar names, including Leeds, Southampton and Norwich.

Some 20,000 supporters will create a sea of blue-and-amber at one end of Wembley.

And Simpson has called for a final push after a season which has spanned 10 months and included 52 games.

“It’s one last big effort to finish off all the hard work,” said the Town chief.

“And that’s not just the last few weeks with the two Bury games, Dagenham and Rotherham.

“It was from July 3 when they were working hard doing pre-season training, the 7am when I took them around the golf course and ran the socks off them in Spain, the days when the snow was out and they were freezing cold.

“All the things they have gone through and all the hard work that has gone into it, these are the days you can get your reward.

“It’s a whole League season which now rests on one game and I’m delighted we are involved in it.

“All the supporters have really taken to it.

“To be thinking we are taking 20,000 fans down to London – and we all know the expense that goes with that – is a fantastic achievement for the club and we have got to do everything we possible can to make sure the journey home is an enjoyable one.

“My final message will be the same as I say every week and that’s ‘go and enjoy it.’ If you enjoy it you normally get the right result.”

With so much at stake, Simpson is anticipating a close encounter.

“I would be very surprised if it’s a convincing game for either side,” he added. “I think it will be a tight affair.

“They are very strong defensively and have not conceded a lot of goals in the last six or seven games.

“It will be tight and the slightest thing will affect the game. We have to make sure that smallest little margin goes in our favour.”

Simpson insists victory tomorrow would be a triumph for everybody associated with Town.

“It would be great to give every single person connected with the football club promotion – starting at the top with the chairman and down to all of the office staff who never get any credit,” he added.

“Then there’s the players, the staff and the supporters – everyone can take satisfaction if we do it.

“It’s a fantastic day to look forward to. Nobody can take a Wembley appearance away from you.

“People say it’s a once-in-lifetime game – for Shrewsbury fans it’s a second time in three seasons.

“Now we have to do what we can to make the celebrations ours at the end.

“You just have to look recently at the Conference play-off final, the UEFA Cup final and Man United being crowned champions.

“That’s the scenes you want at the end, not the other side who quickly get forgotten.”

Town’s players concluded their training session at the Prostar Stadium yesterday by practising penalties which will be used to decide the outcome if the scores are level at the end of 120 minutes.