Mpanzu can't wait for maiden Wembley trip after seeing the arch from his garden when growing up

Luton midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu can’t wait to get his first ever look inside a place he knows extremely well this weekend, Wembley Stadium.

The 29-year-old was born in Hendon, growing up a stones throw from the home of English football, where the now famous arch was a constant landmark for him to see.

Despite his closeness to the venue, the long-serving Hatters has never been lucky enough to attend a game as either a player, or a supporter of his beloved Arsenal, although that will all change this weekend when he is expected to make his 368th appearance for Luton on the hallowed turf in the Championship play-off final against Coventry City.

With that dream about to become a reality, he said: “I’ve never been, I used to live near Wembley, I could see Wembley from my horse, but I haven’t actually been inside the stadium.

"I’ve been in the surrounding areas, I know the area well, but as a fan or player, this is the first time.

“I could see the arch from my garden, so that was always nice.”

Mpanzu is one of a number of Town’s squad who will be taking a maiden voyage to the stadium, with only Tom Lockyer, Carlton Morris, Ethan Horvath, Marvelous Nakamba and Henri Lansbury having run out there previously.

He continued: “For a lot of us, it’s the biggest game of our career.

"I don’t think Lansbury will think that, he’s been up three or four times, but apart from that, this is a big game for us.”

Interest in the game and Mpanzu himself has naturally been through the roof high during the build-up, with the fixture known as the richest in world football for the finances it provide to the winners, while the ex-West Ham youngster will become the first player to go from non-league to the top flight with the same club if Luton are successful.

It led to the midfielder doing a round of press interviews in the week leading up to the match, while even though ticket requests are through the roof as well, he isn’t getting fazed by the impending occasion, saying: “Everyone wants to come and everyone’s trying to get tickets.

"A lot of family will be there, mum, dad, couple of uncles, couple of boys from my area, so it will be a good day if we get it done, or when we get it done.

“I’ve been chilled, I’ve been myself, there’s no need to get nervous because we know what we can do on the pitch against Coventry.

"We’ve gone about our days the same as we have the whole season, so nothing’s really changed in that aspect.

"We go to the stadium Friday, see it and soak it in and then perform on Saturday as best we can and we know that we can do it.”

Should the game go all the way through 120 minutes of football and reach the dreaded penalty shootout too, there will still be no nerves from a calm Mpanzu, as he added: “We’ve been taking penalties all week.

"We’ve got six, seven, confident layers that are going to take penalties.”