Excited, nervous but confident - This was the atmosphere on the road to Wembley with Walsall FC fans

It was an early start for Walsall fans heading to Wembley for the League Two Playoff final against AFC Wimbledon, with those supporting the Saddlers not hard to spot in varying amounts of red and white.

The Saddlers were heading to Wembley for only the second time, having previously been losing finalists in the Johnstones Paint Trophy final against Bristol City in 2015, but in a game which many would argue had a lot more riding on it, with promotion to League One on the line.

Just a few months ago, it seemed unlikely that Walsall would be needing to go to Wembley, having held a sizeable lead at the top of the table, but a run of poor form had seen the Saddlers finish fourth in the table and needing to go through the playoffs, where a 4-1 aggregate win over Chesterfield booked the club's place at Wembley.

The atmosphere at the club was a mixture of good humoured, but also mixed with nerves, as staff worked to help supporters park up ahead of a walk to the nearby Bescot Retail Park and in the club shop, there was a rush to buy anything with the club badge on it, from scarves to socks and gloves and bucket hats.

Senior steward and lifelong fan Anthony Gilbert was one of those who had been to Wembley a decade ago and he admitted to being very nervous.

He said: "I was there in 2015 when we lost to Bristol City and it wasn't a good game at all and I wasn't happy at how we played, but hopefully today will be better.

"I think the wins against Crewe and Chesterfield were important as they really helped with momentum, and I remember that Wembley is no place for losers, so I would happily take a 1-0 win."

Over at Bescot Retail Park, a fleet of 25 coaches were being deployed by Big Green Coaches to get the fans to Wembley, with John Freeman leading the efforts to get people onto coaches and away down the M6.