Excited, nervous but confident - This was the atmosphere on the road to Wembley with Walsall FC fans

It was an early start for Walsall fans heading to Wembley for the League Two Playoff final against AFC Wimbledon, with those supporting the Saddlers not hard to spot in varying amounts of red and white.

The Saddlers were heading to Wembley for only the second time, having previously been losing finalists in the Johnstones Paint Trophy final against Bristol City in 2015, but in a game which many would argue had a lot more riding on it, with promotion to League One on the line.

Just a few months ago, it seemed unlikely that Walsall would be needing to go to Wembley, having held a sizeable lead at the top of the table, but a run of poor form had seen the Saddlers finish fourth in the table and needing to go through the playoffs, where a 4-1 aggregate win over Chesterfield booked the club's place at Wembley.

The atmosphere at the club was a mixture of good humoured, but also mixed with nerves, as staff worked to help supporters park up ahead of a walk to the nearby Bescot Retail Park and in the club shop, there was a rush to buy anything with the club badge on it, from scarves to socks and gloves and bucket hats.

Senior steward and lifelong fan Anthony Gilbert was one of those who had been to Wembley a decade ago and he admitted to being very nervous.

He said: "I was there in 2015 when we lost to Bristol City and it wasn't a good game at all and I wasn't happy at how we played, but hopefully today will be better.

"I think the wins against Crewe and Chesterfield were important as they really helped with momentum, and I remember that Wembley is no place for losers, so I would happily take a 1-0 win."

Over at Bescot Retail Park, a fleet of 25 coaches were being deployed by Big Green Coaches to get the fans to Wembley, with John Freeman leading the efforts to get people onto coaches and away down the M6.

He said he wanted to see Walsall win because while he was a Doncaster Rovers fans, he had a soft spot for the Saddlers, and spoke about the work that went into getting the fans down to Wembley.

He said: "This is one of our standard size operations, with 25 coaches getting more than 1,400 people down to Wembley, but it's always a big day for us, getting this amount of people down in what is a logistical challenge.

"I'm a Doncaster fan and I'm happy that we're promoted, but from a selfish point of view, I'd love to have another local away day next season and the best result for me is a Walsall win."

The journey down from Walsall to Wembley was a relatively smooth one, with the coaches comfortable and traffic down the M6, M5, M42 and M40 running quickly.

Inside, the atmosphere was pleasant, with friends and family chatting happily together, and while there were nerves, there was also a few chants about the Boys from the Black Country.

The excitement and nerves grew more as the Wembley halo came into view for the first time and as the coach parked up, there was an excited feeling among supporters as they headed up the steps onto the stadium concourse.

Around Wembley, fans were getting photos with the Bobby Moore statue and overlooking Wembley Way, with plenty predicting big wins for the Saddlers and engaging in friendly banter with the Wimbledon fans and while the weather was rainy and a bit cold, the atmosphere made it feel warmer.

Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was even hotter, with plenty of excited and nervous people taking their seats and getting ready for the 3.01pm kick off.

Among those getting a pre-match drink and food inside Wembley were Chris Allsopp, his son Mitchell and Mitchell's nephew Ralph, with all predicting a Walsall win and all feeling excited about the games.

Chris, 68, said: "I'll admit I'm nervous and I just hope that we turn up this time as we didn't do that in 2015.

"I am feeling more confident about it though as they're starting to play like they were before Christmas and they seem more confident..

"While the memories from 2015 aren't bitter, I was disappointed that we seemed to get overawed by the occasion, but I think we're better today and we'll win 2-1."

Mitchell, 39, said: "I'm actually very excited about today and I think the last few weeks have helped with that as we're playing a lot better.

"It's huge for the town as well and there's a lot of pride creeping back in for Walsall, which is really important.

"I didn't think that we'd be at Wembley at the start of the season, but here we are and it's going to be a great day out and, like Dad, I think we'll win 2-1."

Ralph, eight-years-old, was even more confident in the team, predicting a huge win.

He said: "I was a bit nervous coming here, but they've done ok this year and the semi-final win was great.

"I think they'll win 5 or 6-0 today."