MATTY Dolan doesn’t want Saturday’s League Two play-off final against Tranmere Rovers to be his last game in a Newport County shirt.
A win for the Exiles this weekend would see the midfielder fulfil a childhood dream by climbing the steps at Wembley and lifting some silverware to mark the club’s promotion.
But Dolan, who turned down Yeovil Town’s offer of a new deal two summers ago to join County, is out of contract at the end of the season.
The 26-year-old has played a big part in Newport’s renaissance under manager Michael Flynn and chipped in with goals at key moments.
His late strike against former employers Middlesbrough earned Flynn’s men an FA Cup replay which they won to set-up a money-spinning fifth-round tie with Manchester City in February.
And it was his successful spot-kick in the play-off semi-final second leg shootout away to Mansfield Town that secured County’s place in the Wembley final on Saturday.
“I’ve had a fantastic time here and I don’t want it to end,” said Dolan when asked about his Rodney Parade future.
“It gets well-documented about players being out of contract at clubs and players coming in, but things like that take care of themselves.”
Like so many of his team-mates, Dolan has experience of appearing at Wembley, and he would love the team to create another piece of history for the fans and city of Newport.
“It’s a place everyone wants to play, and we’ve thoroughly deserved getting there,” he added.
“But we’ve got to go out and do a job. We’ll prepare the right way and leave nothing out there.
“The effort that everyone has put in over the course of the season means we’re getting our rewards – but by no means is it finished.
“As footballers, you strive to play at the highest level you can, and in the biggest games you can, and there aren’t really any bigger games this season than the play-off final.
“People wrote us off so it would be nice to prove a few of them wrong on Saturday.
“We’ll take our experiences of playing at Wembley before into the final, and we’ll look to finish off the job.
“I always said I wanted to walk up the steps and lift the trophy, and I want to do that for Newport.”
He continued: “You’ve got to see it as rounding off a great season and then you look beyond that.
“We don’t want it to just be getting to a League Two play-off final.
“With the quality we’ve got, we deserve to be playing higher, and you don’t want to get so far and fail.
“People might say it’s like a fairy tale, but it’s what we set out for, and we want to be a League One club next season.
“It’s a special bond we’ve got with the whole of Newport and we want to give everything for the club and the city.”
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