JOE Riley will stride out at Wembley with a purpose on Sunday, looking to give Shrewsbury Town’s fairy-tale season the ending it deserves in the League One play-off final against Rotherham United.

The culmination of a quite incredible campaign for Paul Hurst’s unfancied Shrews and arguably the biggest 90 minutes in the Shropshire club’s history, victory would see Riley competing against his old club Wanderers in the Championship next season.

There is a huge amount of pride in the 26-year-old’s voice as he talks about upsetting the odds and – so nearly – beating powerhouses Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic to an automatic promotion spot. But regardless of the result this weekend, Riley views life with a touch more perspective than he may have in his youth, when he came through the Premier League ranks with close friend, Josh Vela.

Earlier this year Riley and his partner Kayleigh Campbell lost their son, Leo Joseph, who was stillborn at 26 weeks old.

The Worsley-based couple had rushed to Bolton Royal, fearing problems with the pregnancy, to be given the news any prospective parent would dread to hear.

“We’d felt like something wasn’t right,” Riley told The Bolton News. “We got to the hospital and they did tests. Then they told us he wasn’t alive any more. There’s nothing that can prepare you for that. You just freeze.”

Riley was given some time off by Shrewsbury – whose fans added a touching tribute in their next game against Scunthorpe United, with a minute’s applause.

Messages of support flooded in from around football, including – noted the full-back – from ex-Wanderer Dean Holden, who had himself suffered the devastating loss of his little girl, Cici, in 2012.

All the while the strain was intensified when Riley’s mum had a breast cancer scare, mercifully now cleared.

Only now does Riley feel he is able to process what happened, and as a gesture of thanks to Bolton Royal for their kindness he is embarking on a 40-mile walk on June 16, between Worsley Old Hall and Blackpool Tower.

Before that, he plans to marry Kayleigh in Portugal – the wedding having been brought forward – and arranged at great pain around the play-off final.

“Kayleigh has been so strong, she’s incredible,” Riley said. “When she was in hospital her dad suggested bringing the date forward. It gave us something to focus on.

“We’d planned it eight weeks ago for the 27th and at that point we were second in the table. What can you do? Hopefully I’ll have plenty to celebrate.

“We both wanted to do something for the staff at Bolton Royal. I don’t think you realise until you go through something like that what nice people there are in the world. Their support was just amazing.

“If we can raise some money to buy equipment, or make someone else’s life that little bit easier when they need it the most, we’ll do it.”

Just 72 hours before the play-off final, Riley is relaxed about the prospect of playing at the national stadium. He missed out on Shrewsbury’s Checkatrade Trophy defeat to Lincoln in April but has a confident tone in his voice about the return trip.

“Whenever we’ve been written off this season we’ve come back stronger,” he said. "I'd broken my leg at the end of last season but I'd got a feeling we were going to be OK in pre-season because we beat Cardiff, Villa, Birmingham and Burton. We started realising 'hang on, we're a decent side' and it's just been a snowball effect.

"The manager and his assistant have been first class. I think they are destined for bigger and better things one day, I really do. They would deserve a win at Wembley.

"They are saying it's the biggest game in the club's history but I'm looking forward to it. Wembley can sap your energy before you get started but I think we have got to enjoy playing there.

“People had us down for relegation. Now we’re one win away from the Championship. That isn’t something to get worried about.”

Riley has come a long way from the rakish teenager picked to deputise for Gretar Steinsson against Stoke City seven years ago in a 5-0 win which atoned, partially, for the disappointment of the FA Cup semi-final the April before.

Injuries have shaped much of his career, preventing us from really seeing the full potential of a player picked for international football by Wanderers' coaching staff at the time.

Yet nearly seven years on from that Bolton bow, Riley is a very different person. Experience shapes his attitude to a world inside and outside football, and his willingness to talk about his loss reflects a more mature and rounded individual.

“You can see people sometimes worry about bringing up the subject,” he said.

“I think if you bottle it up, the minute someone mentions it your emotions just pour out. It can be dangerous.

“It’s the hardest thing either of us have ever been through but - and mainly down to Kayleigh's strength - I find I can talk about it and make some sense of it.

“When I first got some time off I wasn’t in the team at Shrewsbury. I think if I’d had a Saturday to look forward to, it might have taken my thoughts off what was happening.

“We both had to confront it together. It took a long time to sink in that he had gone but now we know it has changed our lives. I we have a different outlook. I want to embrace it, deal with the tragedy and make sure I do something that I can look up and say ‘that was for my son.’”

Joe’s fundraising page for Bolton Royal can be found at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/leo-joseph-riley