Coach Daryl Powell's key warning ahead of Wakefield Trinity's long-awaited Wembley return in 1895 Cup final

For the first time since 1979, Trinity return to the national stadium on Saturday and coach Daryl Powell has urged his players to do themselves and their fans justice on a day which many thought would never come. It may not be the afternoon’s biggest attraction, but Powell stressed the 1895 Cup final against Sheffield Eagles is “a really big occasion” for the club.

“You can see the excitement in the fans,” Powell - who won at Wembley as a player with Leeds Rhinos and Great Britain and coached Castleford Tigers there three years ago - said. “The players are buzzing so I don’t think it matters what competition it is.

“If you look at football, they have play-off games there now and they are still seen as special by everybody concerned. It is a great opportunity for us. It will be a tough game, but you have just got to go there and do yourselves justice.”

Trinity have lost just once, at Featherstone Rovers in the Challenge Cup, since being relegated from Betfred Super League last season. They are five points clear at the top of the Championship and won 36-10 when they visited third-placed Sheffield last month.

But based on past Wembley history alone, Powell stressed this weekend’s opponents can’t be taken lightly. Eagles coach Mark Aston was man of the match in 1998 when they stunned Wigan Warriors in one of the stadium’s greatest upsets and they were 1895 Cup winners against Widnes Vikings five years ago.

“I have spoken to the players about the history Sheffield have,” Powell said. “They can rise, we know that. We played them a few weeks back, but I don’t think that game means anything. It is important we play the game the way we want to play it, don’t overthink anything and take the game on its merits and be at our best.”

Trinity have gone into every match this season as favourites, so that won’t bother them, Powell reckons. He added: “It’s the same every week, there’s always a target on our back, but I don’t think that matters too much. We just have to go and play well and not worry about it too much.

“We have to respect the game and do what we’ve been doing. We want to be a little bit more consistent across 80 minutes, but the boys have been really good. There’s a really good feel about the way they go about things and we’ve got strong players in every position. We’ve just got to play our game and not worry about the peripheral things.”