Huddersfield Town v Reading: Bermuda behind Nahki Wells as he targets Wembley joy again

The Terriers are potentially on the verge of ending their 45-year absence from the top flight of English football.

Reading stand in the way of David Wagner’s men and a place back among the elite, the Berkshire club chasing a third promotion to the Premier League inside a decade.

Should Huddersfield prevail under the world-famous Arch, only Preston North End on the roll call of former champions will still be waiting to sample the rarefied atmosphere of a competition considered the most glamorous in the world.

It is, as Wagner admitted in The Yorkshire Post last Friday, a “once-in-a-lifetime” chance for the West Riding club to once again rub shoulders with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Nahki Wells, ahead of his third visit to Wembley, readily agrees.

“This is our big opportunity,” said the 26-year-old Bermuda international.

“The likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County and a few other teams who have missed out in recent years will always be in and around things because of their financial power.

“But for us, this is our moment. What better chance will we have to do it than now? There is no guarantee that Town will have a season like this ever again.

“We can become legends in this town, and become Premier League players. That is what is at stake in a one-off game. We have the desire to do this. It is not about money, that is not what motivates us. We just want promotion.”

A glance through the 45 years since Huddersfield were last relegated from the top flight tells its own story as to how unprecedented this season’s challenge has been.

Twenty-two of those intervening seasons have been spent in the third tier, and another six in the basement. The club’s highest position in the second tier until this term had also been eighth, achieved in 1995-96 and 1999-2000.

Few, of course, saw this conversion into genuine challengers coming with even Wagner admitting it was not until Christmas that he believed his side had a genuine chance. But here Town stand, potentially just 90 minutes away from the promised land and Wells admits the sense of excitement has spread to his home country.

“Huddersfield being so close to the Premier League is big news back home in Bermuda,” he said. “The country is right behind me, which is always something that makes me proud.

“Sixty-five thousand-plus will be watching the game somehow, I am told. They are also big supporters of Town. My entire family is still back home so they will be together and tuning in.

“It means the world to me that I have this support. I want to say thank you to my country for that support.”

Bermuda’s residents have had two previous opportunities to watch their favourite footballing son play at Wembley. Both came in 2013 with Bradford City and the experiences could not have been more contrasting.

The first came in the League Cup final, a 5-0 defeat for the then League Two Bantams against Swansea City ending what had been a fairytale run in disappointing fashion.

Wells, who netted three times en route to the final, cut a forlorn figure when being substituted just before the hour as Phil Parkinson brought on Jon McLaughlin following a red card for goalkeeper Matt Duke.

A little under three months later, however, Wells had a much more enjoyable afternoon in north-west London as his 28th-minute goal helped the Bantams clinch promotion via a 3-0 play-off final victory over Northampton Town.

“My two trips to Wembley show the highs and lows of football,” said the striker, who will earn Bradford a £250,000 payment if Town go up under the terms of his 2015 move across West Yorkshire.

“Going into a major Cup final with 90,000 people there meant we were all looking forward to it hugely. Swansea deserve credit because they really played well. But we didn’t really turn up and then had the goalkeeper sent off.

“I had to be the man who came off to get the substitute ’keeper on. I didn’t think about who it would be at first when he got sent off. It never crossed my mind.

“But because we were losing, the manager (Phil Parkinson) wanted to make sure we didn’t get destroyed at Wembley in front of millions of viewers. That is why I came off, because the damage had already been done.

“To have the opportunity to go back not long after and use that losing feeling was huge. It really spurred us on.

“Now, I have a third opportunity to play at Wembley. I have to try and use those previous experiences of winning in a play-off final to make sure we do the same. I know what it is all about to win at Wembley. I want that same feeling.”

As with Bradford’s promotion four years ago, Wells is likely to have a big role if Huddersfield are to prevail this afternoon.

As the lone frontman in the 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by Wagner, the striker is pivotal to making the system work. He is ready to take on that challenge.

“Everyone is feeling great,” he added. “The recent trip to Portugal (Town flew out the morning after knocking out Sheffield Wednesday) was a big help. We had the opportunity to get away with our families and it proved to be a really good few days.

“It strengthened the bond between us. It also recognised the big role that the wives and the children have played in Huddersfield Town’s season, we couldn’t have done it without them. We are a family at this club. There is a real family feel to things, the chairman likes to reiterate how important it is to bond with the fans as well. This is a good club to be at.”