Lyndon Dykes reveals Chris Davies reward and Birmingham City's mission as Wembley beckons

Lyndon Dykes spoke to the media after booking Birmingham City's place in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley

Chris Davies rewarded his Birmingham City players with two days off after they booked their place in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley.

Lyndon Dykes netted an 88th minute winner for Blues against Bradford City on Tuesday night to spark scenes of euphoria in St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. The dressing room was bouncing too – and things went up a notch when Davies told the players they don’t have to report for training on Wednesday and Thursday.

Reflecting on his match-winning moment, Dykes said: “It was a special moment. It was really good to celebrate in front of the home fans, such a late goal as well, really special.

“To get to Wembley is a really nice feeling. It’s a special moment of a player’s career to say they’ve played there and the manager also gave us two days off – I think that got a better response than us getting to Wembley!”

Blues have won four knock-out matches in the Vertu Trophy by the odd goal to book their place in the final, where they will face either Wrexham or Peterborough United.

EFL broadcaster Sky will be craving the third edition of the Hollywood Derby between Blues and Wrexham, both of whom boast A-list north Americans in their ownership groups.

“I’m not really bothered to be honest but the battle of the Americans, I’m sure they’ll want that,” Dykes added. “I’m just happy to be there for us, it doesn’t matter who we play against as long as we win.”

Blues have the chance to emulate Barry Fry’s double winners of 1994/95 by winning League One and the Vertu Trophy.

“There’s no hiding that we want to win this competition and with the team we have we should be winning it,” admitted Dykes. “We’ve got Wembley but we haven’t won anything yet. We can enjoy the games that made us get there because they built us.

“The league is the main focus but in the back of our minds we wanted to do well in this competition as well so hopefully we can tick both off at the end of the season.”