GRAHAM Coughlan believes Southend United will only truly enjoy their Wembley experience if they beat Crewe Alexandra in the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy on Sunday.

Coughlan, who is now assistant manager at Blues, captained Shrewsbury Town when they were beaten 1-0 by Gillingham in the 2009 play-off final at the home of English football.

And the Irishman is still haunted by that defeat to this day.

“Wembley is a great place to win, but a horrible place to lose and I know that only too well,” said the 38-year-old.

“I was captain of Shrewsbury when we played there and it’s a great place to go and play.

“But I’m a bad loser and that defeat still hurts me now.

“I think it probably will for the rest of my life as well, so I hope the players play the way we all know they can on Sunday and that they’re able to get the win.”

Coughlan will be in the dugout when he heads back to Wembley this weekend.

And he is adamant the desire will be the same to succeed, despite promotion not being at stake for him this time around.

“When you get this far in a cup competition you want to win, there’s no question about that,” said Coughlan.

“Winning would make the day complete and I will be stressing to the players that they need to try and make sure they take everything in.

“Days like this don’t come around too often and they go really quickly, so it’s important to not let it pass you by.

“The players are fortunate to have this opportunity and I would love to be out there with them because being out on the pitch is the be all and end all of football.”