Waine's Cheltenham Preview

 

Plymouth Argyle have graced Wembley twice before: in the fourth-tier play-off finals of 1996 and 2016.

Ben Waine went on a Wembley tour when he was 10.

Both parties are itching to go back, and they have a chance to book a return visit via Tuesday night’s Papa Johns Trophy semi-final against Cheltenham Town, at Home Park.

Waine, a New Zealand international who Argyle signed in the January transfer window, from Wellington Phoenix, is from an English family, so he appreciates the place that Wembley Stadium holds in the football firmament of this country.

He is hoping to play a part in taking Argyle, who by virtue of being second in Sky Bet League One are the highest-ranked team in the final four, back to play under the famous arch.

“It's a very nice spot to be in,” Ben told Argyle TV. “We're doing well in the league and we’ve just got to quickly shift the focus, but it's the same kind of mindset in the end.

“It's a literally a one-off game where we could be at Wembley; pretty crazy to think about.

“In New Zealand, Wembley isn't talked about as much, but growing up in an English family, [we’d see] the FA Cup, Wembley, the play-offs and whatnot.

“I understand the history. I went on a Wembley tour when I was 10 years old or something like that. That’s the closest I've been.”

Waine played a huge part in getting Argyle to this point. In the quarter-finals, Argyle met Bristol Rovers, and defeated the Gas 2-0 at the Memorial Stadium. The game saw Waine get his first start in an Argyle shirt and, after 24 minutes, bag his first goal too, with an excellent looping header.

In truth, he could have had more, but his goal, plus Ryan Hardie’s effort was enough to steer the Pilgrims into the last four, and Ben looks back fondly on that game, as something that assisted his settling-in process having moved halfway around the world to join Argyle.

“I was obviously quite nervous,” he said. “It was my first start and I was just really going off complete adrenaline to be honest. I felt like I was running around like a bit of a headless chicken. But I got that goal and it was one of the best feelings, I feel like it helped me settle in a lot more.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was also disappointed because I should have had probably three or four and that plays on the back of your mind. To be involved that quickly and help out where I could, I was happy with how it went.”

Waine has played six times for Argyle – two starts and four substitute appearances – and already has played in some big games. He came off the bench in draws at Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, as well as starting a game at Sheffield Wednesday which, coming up against experienced defender Aden Flint, was the proverbial baptism of fire for Ben in his first League One start.

“That Sheffield Wednesday game, coming up against Flint, was an eye opener,” said Waine. “Not in a bad way, but in a really good way because it gave me the opportunity to think: right, this guy is one of the better defenders in the league. If I want to be one of the better players in the league, then I've got to be able to compete with him and possibly not be so naive that thinking I'm there just yet.

“I think I've been lucky. I've been involved with some really big games. My first league game was Bolton, then I played in Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich. I've been chucked in at the deep end, but don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want it any other way.

“It really kind of opened my eyes to what football's like over here and the standard of the top [League One] teams and decent championship teams would be like.

“I always knew it was going to be a challenge; don't get me wrong about that. Regardless of where you play, there's always going to be ups and downs.

“Up until about two weeks ago, I don't think I'd settled in completely, but now I’ve moved into my apartment, and I think it's now just getting into the normal rhythm of things.

“When I first arrived, everything was like a hundred miles. You're constantly on cloud nine, with everything going on and everything being new, you kind of forget about everything in the background.

“Now I've kind of started to settle in, it’s not that I'm on a low or anything like that, but everything's slowed down a little bit more. It’s now not putting too much pressure on myself; I need to understand that it's going to take time for myself as well. I’m in a better place than I was before, and I'm ready to kick on.”

Curiously, Ben’s only Home Park appearance until now was in the league, against Cheltenham Town, when Argyle won 4-2. Prior to that, the Greens won 1-0 at Cheltenham on Boxing Day.

Having done the league double over the Robins, Argyle will understandably be favourites, but Waine sounded a note of caution about over-confidence on that score, while also saying how much he is looking forward to what could potentially be a special night.

“There’s two ways of looking at it,” he said. “There's an advantage in that we've played them twice and we've done reasonably well, then there's also the possibility that a little bit of complacency could slip in.

“I don't think that will happen, but at the end of the day, I think that's probably cleared from our minds because it’s a one-off game. Anybody can get up for a one-off game, so it’s going to be a challenge.

“They're going to be the same as us; they want to go to Wembley super bad.

“I think it would be special for the fans to be involved in potentially being part of that journey as well, and I'm sure they're thinking the same. As much support as possible would be, would be pretty nice. To have a pretty much full Home Park on a Tuesday night would be pretty spectacular.