MICKEY Demetriou is targeting a third trip to Wembley in as many years as Newport County AFC take on Leicester City under-21s in tonight’s Leasing.com Trophy quarter-final.

The centre-back was a pivotal figure as the Exiles earned an FA Cup replay with Tottenham Hotspur at the headquarters of English football in 2018.

And he also helped County reach the League Two play-off final against Tranmere Rovers last year.

Both those Wembley trips ended in defeat for Michael Flynn’s men, and Demetriou is determined to make it third time lucky at the famous venue.

But he knows they must first defeat the Leicester youngsters at Rodney Parade tonight (kick-off 7pm) and then League Two rivals Salford City at home, in a tie that would be played on February 19.

The semi-final will be shown live on Sky Sports, meaning County will earn around £70,000 in prize money and TV fees with a win tonight.

But for Demetriou, a potential return to Wembley is the biggest prize.

South Wales Argus:

“When you’ve got so many games – we’ve played 39 already this season – when it comes to the cup competitions you’re thinking ‘if we do well, we do well’ but we’re so close now,” said the 29-year-old.

“We’re two games away from Wembley and we’ve got a very good chance of getting through.

“We’ve got a home draw in the semi, if we get there, so hopefully we can put a good performance in on Tuesday and go again against Salford.

“It would be a third time in three years [at Wembley] and if we get there, we deserve to get there,” he added.

“Obviously, the last time we were there was unfortunate but we have to try to go there and get a victory this time.”

South Wales Argus:

Demetriou felt County were unlucky to lose 1-0 at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday after creating a host of chances at Home Park.

“Luck wasn’t on our side, it was unfortunate that we couldn’t get the point at the end,” said the defender, who hit the woodwork with a late free-kick.

“I don’t think I could go any closer! On another day it probably just creeps under the bar but, somehow, I managed to hit the corner of the bar and post,” he said.

“And, unfortunately, it didn’t bounce down to one of our players to put it into the back of the net.

“It’s one of those games. We create our own luck and we didn’t create enough of it.

“But we can take the positives from it because Plymouth are a very good team and they’ve been battering teams all season. They didn’t do that to us.

“And the way their fans and their players were celebrating at the end shows how lucky they were to get all three points.

“We know we can compete,” he added. “That’s the frustrating thing. When we don’t come away with a victory, we’re disappointed. We deserved at least a point but we have to go again now.”

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