It has been a remarkable couple of seasons for Mark Roberts since joining Stevenage.
Having gained promotion from the Conference last year, Boro have reached the play-offs, and Roberts will be facing former team Accrington Stanley. GMF interviewed the Stevenage captain ahead of the play-off showdowns.
Q. You have reached the play-offs in your first season in the Football League. How do you feel?
A. It has definitely been a long season and at one time last Saturday during the game we had dropped to eighth place and it was a bit tense but we got the result and very pleased to finish sixth.
Q. You started off slowly but since the turn of the year you have been almost unstoppable?
A. I think we needed to learn quite a few lessons when we came up a level. Since December we have worked with a smaller squad. New faces came and went and in the early part of the season we had quite a few players on loan. I think we were 18th in the table in January so the second half of the season we have come strong.
Q. You played for Accrington before joining Stevenage – how does it feel to be meeting them in the play-offs?
A. I played for them and there are still a few players there from my time at the club. John Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell have transformed a side that maybe are considered unfashionable. They have some good young players-I think five or six of them have come from the Liverpool academy. They are a very close-knit side both on and off the pitch which is their strength.
Q. How big an achievement is this for you?
A. It is a massive achievement. We played in the Blue Square play-off and lost and I know from experience it is not a nice feeling. To get out of the conference is tough because there is only one automatic place but the incentive to get into division one and play against the likes of Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday is immense.
Q. What is the strength of Stevenage?
A. It is built on hard work. We are well known in that we work long days. There is a great work ethic in the side. There is the odd moan but the rewards we have got are there for all to see. Our defensive record is the best in the division.
Q. The final will be at Old Trafford if you get through. How do you feel about that?
A. I have played at Wembley in the last couple of seasons which was great to go there but Old Trafford is great for me because I supported Manchester United as a boy so it would be great to play there.
Q. Will you be able to get much of a break if you get promotion?
A. I am trying to book a few days in Las Vegas because I have to be back in early June as I am studying for a sports journalism degree at Staffordshire University and I have to go in to the campus.
