Dagenham & Redbridge striker Paul Benson eyes Wembley

Benson scored three goals over two legs against Morecambe

Dagenham and Redbridge striker Paul Benson is refusing to let his focus slip ahead of Sunday's League Two play-off final against Rotherham.

The 30-year old has never played at Wembley but he is trying not to get caught up in the pre-match excitement.

He told BBC Essex: "It will be a special day and an unbelievably special day if we get promoted.

"But I'm certainly not going to lose track of what the final goal is, and that's to get to League One."

The Millers beat Dagenham twice this season, but that does not concern Benson who has told his team-mates to relax and enjoy the day.

"Things don't come around like this all the time," he said.

"You can't spend all week thinking about the game because it won't do you any good.

"It is a massive game but it's also just another game, you can't look at it any other way."

Stepping out on the Wembley turf is a common boyhood dream, one that Benson has shared and is about to fulfil.

"I remember going over the park and pretending to score the winning goal at Wembley," he said.

"When playing at Wembley is something you've thought about all your life, and it's three or four days away, it's a good feeling."

Benson is in his fifth season with the Daggers, having scored 81 goals in 190 appearances.

His 191st game for the Essex club will be the biggest he has ever played in.

"This is the number one achievement in my career without a doubt," he said.

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I will watch with an enormous amount of pride as the team walks out remembering those days gone by and knowing that no matter what the score, win or loose Dagenham will always be champions in my eyes

BB-Dagger

Benson obtained his football education playing for White Ensign in the Essex Intermediate League 17 years ago, when the prospect of playing at England's national stadium would have seemed a long way away.

"I never actually tire of thinking and talking about it. My nan's kept a scrapbook with all the cuttings from when I was in the Intermediate League," he said.

"I probably wouldn't swap the way I've done it for any other way."