His side may be just 90 minutes from the National League play-off final, but Braintree forward Simeon Akinola is refusing to get carried away by the prospect of running out at Wembley.

East Anglian Daily Times: Simeon Akinola jumps high but just fails to connect with the ball during the first half of the Grimbsy v Braintree (National League Play-off semi final first leg) match at Blundell Park, Grimbsy, on 05 May 2016. Evan Horwood (32) and Craig Disley are the Grimsby players. Picture: Steve Waller www.stephenwaller.comSimeon Akinola jumps high but just fails to connect with the ball during the first half of the Grimbsy v Braintree (National League Play-off semi final first leg) match at Blundell Park, Grimbsy, on 05 May 2016. Evan Horwood (32) and Craig Disley are the Grimsby players. Picture: Steve Waller www.stephenwaller.com (Image: © Copyright Stephen Waller)

Part-time Iron lead Grimsby Town 1-0 following Thursday night’s semi-final first leg at Blundell Park with the second, and deciding, fixture played at Braintree’s Cressing Road ground on Sunday.

While Akinola is well aware of the enormity of Sunday’s second leg, as well as the fact they hold a slim advantage, he insisted his side aren’t preparing to dream of a place in the final just yet.

“We take every game as it comes, we really do, and next up for us is Sunday,” he said

“It will be a tough game, it’s sure to be tough because we’ve only got to half-time.

“It’s good to be in the lead but we can’t afford to relax too much.

“Hopefully there will be a big crowd there for the game because that always gives us the extra one per-cent we need.”

Akinola was involved in the key moment of Thursday night’s first leg, as he went down under Josh Gowling right on the edge of the Grimsby area, with the referee pointing to the spot despite Grimsby’s claims that the foul was committed outside the box.

Kenny Davis stepped up to score the only goal of the game, with Akinola insisting the right decision was made.

He said: “It was a difficult one for the referee because it all happened very fast, but I looked at the replay and it was one which really could have gone either way.

“I think he made the right decision and then Kenny kept his cool to score the penalty.

“Grimsby on a Thursday night was always going to be hard for us but I think we did well and we managed to show exactly where we are where we are.

“We managed to get the result which puts us in a really good position going into Sunday.”

The team of part-timers arrived home from Grimsby in the early hours of Friday morning but, unlike the majority if the Iron squad, former computer systems engineering student Akinola didn’t rush to work the day after the first leg.

“The coach got back at about 2.30pm but I managed to jump in with one of my mates and we got back at about one,” he said.

“I was a student but I’ve finished my studies so I’m in a better position than some of my teammates there.”