Aston Villa defender Matt Lowton desperate to right Wembley wrong

11 December 2012 06:47

Matt Lowton wants to return to Wembley with Aston Villa in the Capital One Cup after suffering the lowest point of his career at the same stadium seven months ago.

Defender Lowton was part of the Sheffield United team beaten on penalties by Huddersfield in the npower League One play-off final. The 23-year-old missed one of his side's spot-kicks as the Terriers eventually won 8-7 on penalties.

Lowton said: "I had a bad experience there last year. I loved the day but the outcome was a massive disappointment. We worked hard all year to get there but fell at the last hurdle. Going to Wembley is a boyhood dream but losing there was the worst thing that has happened in my career up until now."

He added: "We were all on the floor afterwards. We were second in the table for so long, but got overtaken by the other side of the city (Sheffield Wednesday) which made it even worse.

"I remember Chris Morgan, a seasoned pro who I had watched in the Premier League, saying 'you've had a fantastic season, it's one penalty, try not to let it affect you too much.'

"Now it would be fantastic to go back down there to Wembley in a cup final."

Lowton admits moving to Villa helped him to overcome the Wembley blues.

He said: "The next few days after the play-off defeat were hard but I was lucky enough to get the opportunity here. That took the confidence to a whole new level, signing for a Premier League team, and I knew I had to let that go and move on.

"If the opportunity was still there to come to Villa, even if we had gone up, I would still have come here.

"An opportunity like this, Premier League football, with a manager who wants to play football and is willing to give the young lads a chance, you can't ignore."

Source: PA