Dan Burn plays at the national stadium today for Newcastle United, 12 years after missing out on a Wembley appearance with Darlington.

The Magpies are hoping to end their 54-year trophy drought when they take on Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final, with Blyth-born Burn hoping to walk up the Wembley steps after full-time to collect a winner’s medal.

He missed out on doing that in May 2011 when his Darlington team-mates won the FA Trophy, despite playing a major part in the team reaching the final.

Quakers won 1-0 at Wembley against Mansfield Town, and Burn would have played had a transfer to Fulham not been agreed in the weeks beforehand.

While he made his Darlington debut in 2009 as a 17-year-old, it was season 2010-11 was when he made a name for himself at Quakers.

“I got a chance in the January when one of the centre halves was cup-tied,” Burn told Newcastle’s website.

“They brought me back up from the youth team and I played really well. I think I played 14 or 15 games on the bounce, and then we played Gateshead in the two-legged Trophy semi-final.”

He played in both legs of the semi-final against Gateshead, starting five of the team’s six Trophy ties prior to Wembley.

Burn added: “Literally just after that [semi-final], the gaffer pulled me to say that Fulham had made an offer for me.

“I went down to Fulham with my dad. I had a suit on - I think I'm the only player to ever turn up for a medical in a suit, but I was trying to make a good impression - and I had a bad knee.

“I'd been getting injections because at Darlington we couldn't afford to MRI it. I did all the scans and it turned out I'd torn my meniscus in my first game that season, and just hadn't realised it.

“I was panicking - 'they're going to fail me on the medical' - but they said they'd still sign me. But I had to go back and tell Darlington that in order to sign I had to have an operation, and that would mean I missed the final at Wembley.”

With Burn unavailable and Adam Quinn cup-tied, Quakers boss selected striker Liam Hatch as a makeshift centre-back alongside Ian Miller.

Miller was involved in the dramatic last-minute winner, heading the ball on from a throw-in which led to Chris Senior scoring in the dying seconds sparking joyous celebrations.

Though not in the squad, Burn was on the pitch after full-time in a training kit and also joined in with the celebrations in the changing room.

He added: “I met the lads down in London, watched them train and went to the game. We won in the last minute - Chris Senior popped up with a header - and they all went to celebrate on the coaches, they all had their families down.

“I jumped in a taxi and went back to Fulham, where I'd moved into digs. It was a bit of an anti-climax. I knew that part of it all, for me, was done.”

However, today will not be Burn’s first taste of playing at Wembley. Two years after missing out with Darlington, Burn played under the arch for Yeovil Town in the League One play-off final, scoring the winner in a 2-1 win against Brentford.