Naismith has already pictured himself lifting the trophy for Luton

Luton skipper Kal Naismith admits he has already pictured himself lifting the cup at Wembley on Sunday as he prepares for what will be the proudest moment of his career when leading Town out on to the hallowed turf for the Vertu Trophy Final against Stockport County.

The 34-year-old, who returned to Kenilworth Road in the summer, will no doubt have the captain’s armband once more at the home of English football, when the Hatters look to win the competition for the second time in their history, having beaten Scunthorpe United 3-2 when Mick Harford was at the helm back in 2009.

With the game still a few days away, the excitement is clearly spreading around the squad, as the Scotsman has allowed his mind to drift to walking up the famous steps and emulating the likes of Sonny Bradley who lifted the Championship play-off final trophy in 2023, and Kevin Nicholls with the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy some 17 years go. He said: “Yes, I have. I have lifted a trophy, we got promoted with Portsmouth, I got promoted with Partick Thistle, but it’s weird, you picture yourself there, just visually.

"I believe in that, I believe in meditating, putting yourself there and visualising it, seeing it, I think it’s a powerful tool if you use it correctly. If you let negative thoughts come in and override your emotions, you need to battle against it, so I’ve pictured all the good stuff. I’ve visualised myself in the moment, how I would be feeling, how I would act, how I would behave, so I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t gone through my mind.”

Having left Ibrox in 2013 to move to England and play for Accrington Stanley, Portsmouth, Wigan and Bristol City, then getting the chance to actually lead Luton, whom is now with for a third spell, out at Wembley, will be without doubt the proudest moment of a career which has spanned over 450 games for Naismith, who continued: “It will definitely be by far.

"It’s hard to even think about it now, captaining the club and leading the club out in any game is incredible for me. It was the proudest time when I was made captain of the club, but to have the memories and doing it at finals, in front of huge crowds and hopefully lifting the trophy, these are the things that I’ll look back on when I’m grey and old and think ‘wow, that was special.’”

Although raising the trophy above his head in front of over 30,000 celebrating Hatters supporters is all that is consuming Naismith’s mind right now, he will spend the next few days trying to keep a lid on those dreams for now, saying: “I’m just feeling excited. It’s going to be a big day, a proud day, having my family there and kids there in the crowd, it’s going to be incredible, but I’m just trying to contain my emotions, treat it like any other game and try to prepare the best I can.

"When I sit in the car and I’m driving in, thoughts are going round in my head. You’re just constantly seeing pictures of the game. It’s hard, it is hard not to think about it, but keeping yourself busy, spending lots of time with the kids, with the family, they keep your mind occupied. Then when you’re training, when you’re doing what you love, playing football and you’re around your team-mates, it’s a bit easier.

"You don’t think about it as much, although you’re prepared for it. You’re just having fun, you’re training and it’s just staying busy, but I’m constantly thinking about it. It will be incredible, walking out and then, right, it’s a game, football, life, winning’s everything. We win no matter how and then we get to celebrate, I look up to my family and that will be special.”

Although Wembley itself won’t be new to Naismith, actually stepping foot on the pitch will be some experience for the defender who has never actually played at the home of English football before. He continued: “I’ve been there lots of times, I love my boxing so I’ve been to lots of boxing events. I’ve been to a lot of games there as well. I went to the Man City game recently, when they beat Arsenal in the final, just visualising it, picturing that orange everywhere and seeing myself being on certain areas of the pitch.

"My best friend, he’s been there and I went to his games. He’s been promoted there with Fulham to the Premier League and then watching the lads get promoted there with Luton when I’d just left, still loving everyone at the club and being so delighted for them. I’ve always watched games there and always hoped that one day it would be me there with my family in the crowd, so Sunday will be that day.”

Although Town will no doubt have the majority of the support on the day, the Hatters might find themselves starting the final as underdogs, taking on a County side who are fifth in the table, and destined for a place in the play-offs this term, something that Town themselves are still in the hunt for after winning four from their last five matches.

The only time they dropped points in that sequence was to their opponents, a 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road in which Emilio Lawrence’s fantastic opener was cancelled out by an Ollie Norwood free kick that caught Town stopper Josh Keeley out at his near post. Asked if that Town could take things they learned from that meeting, Naismith said: “I’m sure you can, but every game’s different and you’ve seen cup finals, cup finals can be cagey, they can be different.

"For the managers, definitely, because they’ll study it and they’ll watch it. They’ll really see it tactically and getting the tactical element of the game, but it was a tale of two halves. I thought we were great in the first half, dominated, and then they got the better of the second half, but it’s a cup final now. It isn’t just what you do on the pitch, it’s how you prepare, what you do around it, how you are emotionally, I think all that comes into it as well for cup finals I would imagine, not that I’ve played in a lot. A lot of it is in your mind as well, and we’ll be working on that through the week.”

Finally, when Town get into their huddle just before the first whistle is blown on Sunday, asked just what his own message will be to the players, Naismith added: “It’s something I’ve started I’ve thinking about. You can rehearse as much as you like, but it’s hard as the players hear me speak a lot. I’m very vocal in the changing room and now and again the manager will ask me to speak before a big game.

"I’ll speak in the huddles before the game. You don’t want to say the same generic stuff over and over, you want to get some emotion in there so that the lads will feel it. I’ll be thinking about that any time that I’m free now, what can I say best to bring out certain individuals and players, but the truth is the lads know how huge this game is. Everybody will be ready to go, but little reminders from now until then."