Omar Beckles not ready to take Yeovil lightly as Shrewsbury guard against Trophy shock
Omar Beckles is wary of the shock factor as League Two Yeovil hope to get one over high-flying Shrewsbury Town and book their place at Wembley with a win tonight.
But the powerful defender is determined to fulfil one of his targets and grace one of the biggest stages in footballer.
The Londoner, who has made a remarkable rise through the football pyramid to the higher reaches of League One, is not interested in the 39 place gap between Shrewsbury and Darren Way’s Yeovil.
Beckles faced the Glovers last season with former side Accrington and, like so many other of Paul Hurst’s recruits, has a history from the lower leagues.
The Glovers are not short of pedigree this season having knocked Southend, Bradford, Plymouth, AFC Wimbledon and Fleetwood out of cup competitions.
“We don’t really see it the way of lower league opposition,” Beckles, 26, said.
“A lot of us lads, and myself personally, have just come from League Two. We know that the margin isn’t really that big.
“We’ve seen teams in the FA Cup beat bigger teams. It’s not something you can take lightly, it’s not a new thing all of a sudden.
"You've seen how our Checkatrade Trophy games have been so far and now we're in the semi-finals. We've still got to play our game and beat opposition."
While the makeshift left-back insists he is trying to not get to ‘caught up’ in the possibility of a Checkatrade Trophy final at Wembley, the prospect does not fail to excite Beckles.
He has previously watched friends play under the arch – including Yeovil winger Rhys Browne – who was then at Macclesfield – but Beckles’ best Wembley memory is of a different kind.
“I went to a Coldplay concert, that was my best experience at Wembley – unbelievable!” He added.
“It was on the pitch and amazing. One of the best concerts I’ve been to. They’re unbelievable. On TV is one thing but live...yes.
“I was standing on the pitch and I was thinking ‘one day – one day I’ll be (playing) on here’. It’s crazy now, on the flip side, potentially being on the brink of it. More than ever that’s why I want to get that win.”
Ambitious Beckles has stated on a number of occasions since joining Salop that he has belief in climbing even further up the Football League.
“I guess I’ve always just wanted to play at the biggest stage,” added the former Aldershot man. “That’s been my key motivation in football. To play at the biggest stage possible.
“You don’t really get a bigger stage than that (Wembley), especially in England.
“I’m looking forward to potentially playing there.”
Beckles, who scored in Town’s last game at Charlton after netting his first for the club at Bristol Rovers last month, netted for Stanley against Yeovil last season.
He says that competing for trophies, titles and awards are what professionals strive for.
He continued: “It’s always a good day to play in London in front of family and friends. Just to get a trophy, that’s always a positive for professionals.
“To be in that elite aspect you want to get awards and so on, that’d be good.
“Everyone wants to play at Wembley. But you want to do it with something to win. When there’s a trophy at the end of it.
“When you know you’re playing a cup final it means even more.”
