Ten years ago, Tommy Rowe walked out at Wembley wearing the armband for Peterborough United in the 2014 EFL Trophy Final.

This season, the Doncaster Rovers midfielder is looking to recreate that feeling with his current Club to mark the anniversary of a memorable campaign as the Quarter-Final beckons.

“We talked about the fans because who wouldn’t want to go Wembley and fill that up with Doncaster fans?” Rowe says. “That’s been a dream of mine for a while and it would be great if we could achieve it this year. It would mean everything – I wholeheartedly mean that.

“When I first came, we managed to get promotion which was a great feeling. Coming back, I want that back. The Club would definitely appreciate such a positive lift. For us right now, it would be huge and I’d love to deliver that.”

Grant McCann’s men had to come from behind against League One opposition Wigan Athletic on home turf in the Round of 16 of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. After falling behind early in the first half, Owen Bailey equalised for Rovers after the break.

It came down to penalties on the night and Doncaster prevailed 4-2 in the shootout to book their place in the final eight of the competition. 

Credit: AHPix

“We were playing a team a division above which we knew was going to be difficult, but we needed to believe and that we did and got the result we wanted,” Rowe continues. “It’s funny how it changed in that second half. It was a good feeling playing in a game against a team from the division above but you’re almost on top of the game and you’re playing football you want to play.

“It’s certainly giving me more belief, beating a team of that stature going into the next game. Without encouraging too much – because players have got to find their own way – when you hear the gaffer saying we’re two games from Wembley, you go and up your performance in a way.”

The competition holds special memories for the 35-year-old. This year marks a decade since Rowe captained Peterborough to victory in the Final at Wembley when the Posh overcame Chesterfield 3-1 under the famous arch.

“We had a really good league campaign alongside it and helped us get to the Final,” he recalls. “Our focus changed over different games, so we were able not to put too much pressure on the tournament itself. We enjoyed every round of it and getting to the Final was amazing.

“It was personally special for me, being captain. My son walked out with me at Wembley, so it was a magical day and a big occasion. He was really nervous and he was only four, so going into that, he was standing in front of all those fans and walking out!

Credit: Joe Dent

“We played a very good Chesterfield team with some great players and Paul Cook as the manager,” Rowe recalls. “You look back at that team now and players from that team went on to go and play in the Championship even now and have great careers.

“We wanted to do the double that season and it was in our plans to win the cup and get promoted, but we fell short in the Play-Offs to Leyton Orient.”

There might have been some cause for concern when Peterborough were reduced to 10-men in the second period, after Joe Newell received his marching orders, with Darren Ferguson’s men 2-1 up in the game.

But the Posh held their nerve and even added a third to make themselves more comfortable and see the showpiece out.

“Joe Newell was excellent for us all season, but he was a young lad at the time and he was on the floor and flicked his leg out,” he remembers. “You know what that is straightaway – it’s a red card.

“Great teams know how to balance that out and we stayed composed. “To sustain that for that amount of time was a great credit to us with 10-men and it made it even sweeter for us to win the Final in the end. It was a key part of the game that we saw through.

“The manager made some really good defensive decisions after that. We invited the pressure on and Chesterfield could smell blood, but we had a lot of pace in our side. Mark Little at right wing-back, who is absolutely rapid, caused problems all game. He got fouled and tripped in the box and we had Britt Assombalonga to take it and he was on fire that season and he was clinical from the penalty spot.”

The skipper more than played his part in the Club’s route to the Final that year. Rowe – the man to convert the decisive penalty kick away at Swindon Town in the Southern Area Final to take Peterborough to Wembley – proved he could perform under pressure more than once.

“We’d had some great battles at Swindon,” he says. “In that game, particularly, the pitch was always quite boggy. I remember running up to the penalty thinking, ‘will this bobble up?’ I thought I’d just put it low and hard, being the fifth penalty taker and the captain.

“The celebrations then were special; we celebrated as if we’d won it there. It was a great achievement for the Club to go Wembley and the Club had never won a cup before, so it was the first domestic cup and it meant a lot.”

There was another familiar face in the starting XI for Peterborough that day. Current Rovers boss Grant McCann, on the books as a player, lined up alongside Rowe at the home of English football.

Together, the pair lifted the trophy, and it was McCann’s leadership qualities that proved vital in the Final against the Spireites.

Credit: Joe Dent

“At that point, the gaffer was so experienced in the way he played,” Rowe continues. “When he came to Peterborough, he was a holding midfielder who would spread the ball around and he took every set piece, and he was really calm and composed. You could see his managerial qualities coming out then.

“The first goal for us in the Final was his corner – Shaun Brisley got a run and headed it across the keeper. If you look at the detail like that, that was the difference in a game of that magnitude for us.

“Even with the penalties for us (against Wigan), I was speaking to him just before we took the penalties and he was really calm and composed, and we knew we’d get the outcome we practiced. There wasn’t any panic.’’

And the pair are hoping to lead Doncaster – who beat Bristol Rovers in the 2007 EFL Trophy Final, staged at the Millennium Stadium – to glory in the competition together this season by drawing on previous experience.

“The gaffer challenges me in different ways now as a leader and a senior player,” he adds. “It’s great to look around the changing room because you can see the players react to the words that we’re two games away from something so big.

“Some of the lads haven’t played at Wembley before and it’s good to gauge that with the squad and you’re looking at them people who have been there and go, ‘what can you bring to the next game to encourage us?’ For the players who haven’t, it’s that hunger and desire to reach a major Final for your Club.”

Doncaster travel to League Two rivals Bradford City, with a place in the Semi-Final up for grabs in a Yorkshire derby, but Rowe – who is now in his third spell at the Club – insisted that his side know what to expect from the tie, have already faced off against the Bantams once this season.

“We played them at home and they got the better of us in the game,” he notes. “We were preparing to play them last weekend but that got cancelled due to the weather, so we’ve had a good look at them. We know exactly what we’re going to expect, especially at their place which is a tough place to go. It’s a local derby, so it’s another big incentive for us.”