Stockport County manager Dave Challinor is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, refusing to let Wembley dreams cloud his focus—even as his side stands on the brink of a League One play-off final.

The Hatters hold a slender 1-0 advantage over Stevenage Borough after Saturday's first leg, thanks to Ben Osborn's dramatic 90th-minute winner. With the return fixture at Edgeley Park on Wednesday, the temptation to look ahead is real. But Challinor, ever the realist, is having none of it.

"It's really, really easy to get carried away, and that's certainly not something that's in my persona," the boss told BBC Radio Manchester. "I'm ever the pessimist, if anything—I let all the other people be the optimist."

For a club that was playing in the National League North as recently as 2019—and suffered play-off heartbreak against Leyton Orient just last season—the stakes couldn't be higher. Challinor knows that one slip-up could derail everything.

"Of course, it's easy to look ahead at what might be, but what might be doesn't happen if we don't take care of our stuff," he said. "We can only control us—our mindset, our mentality, and how we carry out the game plan required to win on Wednesday."

History adds an extra layer of caution. Stevenage stunned Stockport 3-1 at Edgeley Park back in December, a reminder that nothing is guaranteed. But Challinor isn't planning to sit back.

"We've got to do exactly what we did on Saturday. We'll have the crowd behind us, which will be great, but we need to perform well. We're going to be positive, try to attack the game, and get the next goal. We can only do that by being on the front foot."

For fans dreaming of a trip to Wembley, Challinor's message is clear: focus on the job at hand. The journey is far from over—and in the high-stakes world of play-off football, that's exactly the mindset champions are made of.