JOHN Westwood believes Portsmouth’s trip to Wembley on Sunday could bring the club both short-term and long-term benefits.

Pompey head to Wembley for the final of the Checkatrade Trophy (kick-off 2.30pm), where they will face fellow League 1 side Sunderland.

Both teams are chasing automatic promotion to the Championship and victory at the national stadium could well give the winners the final spur they need to finish in the top two places in the league in the closing weeks of the season.

As well as being the key to promotion, Westwood also believes the atmosphere Portsmouth’s biggest ever away following will create will give the club’s American owners food for thought in relation to their future plans for the club.

He said: "For Pompey to sell our 40,000 tickets is just incredible.

"I think it is going to be a party atmosphere on Sunday - a lot of people are just going there to go to Wembley because how often do you get the chance to see your club play there? We might never do it again.

"It’s a difficult game to call - it’s a good job we won at Shrewsbury last Saturday as I think it has given us a psychological advantage being above Sunderland, even though they have two games in hand.

"We’re going into the game on a high and we have already beaten them once this season. Sunderland are a good side - they are a Championship side when you look at the players they have so they should be at the top of the table.

"Whoever wins that could give them a boost to go on and get into the top two and win promotion.

"I love what the owners the Eisners are doing - they are building the club slowly but surely and making sure Pompey can service their debt, and that’s more important than anything.

"It is exciting stuff - we’ve got owners we’ve been dreaming of for 50 years. They respect the fans and they respect traditions and that is what I love about them.

"It should be a fantastic atmosphere - you couldn’t have wished for two better teams to be there.

"Sunderland are as passionate as Pompey - they are a huge club so it is going to be a great day out.

"And if the owners get a taste of how good having larger numbers of supporters at the game is, it may spur them on to push forward with their plans for the ground and developing the club further."