Peterborough United’s Adam Drury remembers Wembley, 2000 and his other Posh highlights: ‘I was facing the wrong way at a corner so I knew I was in trouble’

Posh defender Adam Drury (right) in action against Chelsea's Gianfranco Zola in an FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge in 2001.

Adam Drury started the game at left-back, but was taken off just before half-time with concussion after a bizarre incident at a corner.

Here Drury recalls, what he can, of that game and his Posh career.

Drury recalled: “I went for a header down the channel, but the ball was too low and I ended up getting a kick in the head.

“I saw the blood and thought I’ll be okay in a minute so I carried on. Darlington then won a corner and I was waiting for the ball to come in when Mark Tyler (Posh goalkeeper) told me to turn round as I was facing the wrong way.

“He literally turned me round and I knew I was in trouble. I played on for a bit but I was in a daze so I had to come off. It was disappointing, but the right thing to do.

“It all worked out okay in the end as we won. It’s great reaching finals, but you have to win them or it means nothing.

“It was pretty incredible that we even made the play-offs because at Christmas we were a right mess.

“We were struggling for form and we sold Simon Davies and Matthew Etherington, but we pulled together and went on the sort of run that made us confident of winning the play-offs when we got there.

“Luckily we had strong characters in that side. I always looked up to Andy Edwards and Steve Castle. In fact I was terrified of Steve. If he demanded the ball you gave it to him!

“I think he played two days after having a knee operation once. That’s commitent, but he was also an experienced pro always willing to help the younger players.

“I enjoyed Wayne Turner’s coaching as well. I liked the way he wanted to play football.

“Winning promotion was obviously a highlight for me at Posh as was playing at Chelsea in the FA Cup the following year even though we lost 5-0.

“I played centre-back that day and marked Gianfranco Zola. At the end of the game I asked for his shirt and he said he’d give it to me inside. I just felt he’d brushed me off so I went into our dressing room for a shower and after a while Barry Fry shouted across that there was someone to see me and it was Zola.

“He’d brought me his shirt and then he insisted on having mine. I don’t know why as it was one of those green ones!

“I loved it at Posh. I had a great grounding there, but I always wanted to play as high as possible and to be fair to Barry he always told me of any interest.

“Gillingham were in a higher division than us at the time and they were interested in me as were Ipswich, but nothing came of those stories.

“And then I was on the team bus one Tuesday night when the game was called off. Barry called me down to the front of the bus and said the club had agreed a fee with Norwich.

“I had a couple of days to think about it and talk it over with people, but I knew they didn’t have a left-back at the time so I was likely to play and that convinced me to go.

“It turned out to be a decent decision!”

Drury was in the Posh youth set-up before turning pro with the club in 1995. He made 176 Posh appearances and scored two goals before moving to Norwich for £500k in March, 2001. He had been at Norwich as a youngster until he was released aged 15.