MICHAEL Appleton says Oxford United will not allow Millwall the chance to deny them a place in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley.

United lead the Sky Bet League One side 2-0 going into tonight’s area final second leg at the Kassam Stadium.

And the prize on offer is a trip to the home of English football to take on either Fleetwood Town or Barnsley in the showpiece on April 3.

But first the U’s must overcome a dangerous Millwall side, who have a decent away record, losing only four games on their travels so far this season.

United head coach Appleton is under no illusions of the task ahead and the dangers the Lions pose, but after getting this far he has no intention of falling at the final hurdle.

“It is such a big thing getting there (Wembley) and once you are there you have got an opportunity to enjoy it, so we won’t allow anyone to take that away from us,” said Appleton.

“Regardless of what happened in the first leg, they will be very confident they can get something out of this game.

“Their away record is as good as anybody’s in all the divisions, so they will fancy their chances, but we will fancy our chances to score goals as well.”

Appleton has never played or managed at Wembley and admitted leading United to the final would be the biggest moment of his career.

He said: “The only thing that would beat it, without any shadow of a doubt, is being promoted.

“But up until that moment, certainly it would be the biggest.”

Of course tonight’s tie could go to penalties, and while Appleton confirmed Liam Sercombe would continue spot-kick duties after his miss at Portsmouth nine days ago, he has not felt the need for his side to practise them in training.

He added: “I am not a big fan of practising if I am being honest.

“I am really not because you could get someone who scores ten out of ten on the training field and it comes to the evening and it is a completely different game.

“The pressure, the mentality – it really does come down to the situation, that moment.”