Papa John's Trophy: Plymouth Argyle players urged to take Wembley chance

Steven Schumacher has won 38 and lost 15 of his 68 games in charge of Plymouth Argyle

"I played 13 years in the Football League and I only got to the final of the play-offs once, and was left out of the starting 11 and sat on the bench," recalls Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher ahead of his side's Papa John's Trophy semi-final against Cheltenham Town.

The Pilgrims, second in League One, are having a great season under the 38-year-old, who has only been in charge for 15 months.

But the prospect of a trip to Wembley - something that has only happened twice in Argyle's 137-year history - is one Schumacher is keen his players take advantage of.

He said: "I played in 450-odd games and only got one chance to go to Wembley, so the players could look at this and think 'this could be my one chance'.

"They might not get there again, so give it everything that you've got because to say you've played there in front of your friends, in front of your family, and in such a huge occasion in a final for Argyle, it'll be something you can look back on in your career and be really proud of."

Steven Schumacher (right) had to watch from the bench as Fleetwood won promotion in his only previous Wembley experience

Schumacher's only Wembley day so far in his career brought mixed emotions. He was a key part of the Fleetwood Town side that made the 2014 League Two play-off final, having played in both legs of the semi-final.

But boss Graham Alexander left him out for the big game as the Cod Army beat Burton Albion 1-0 - an experience which he may well need to draw upon in the coming months.

"It was one of the most difficult days of my career," he explained to BBC Sport.

"I played in both semi-finals of the play-offs and played really well, and the day before the final the manager pulled me to one side and said he wasn't going to play me for tactical reasons, which as you can imagine, I wasn't too pleased about.

"But he did explain to me that one day this might be you sitting in my chair explaining to somebody why you're picking a team.

"He said 'You might not like it right now, but I need you to be professional about it', which I was. I supported the team.

"I was made up that we won the final and we got ourselves out of League Two and into League One with Fleetwood.

"Now I'm no the other side of it and will probably have those tough conversations with people again, hopefully."

'It's been quite an enjoyable ride'

Schumacher's Argyle are level on points with Sheffield Wednesday at the top of League One, but behind the Owls on goal difference

It has been a rollercoaster ride for Schumacher in his first job as a manager.

He took over when "best friend" Ryan Lowe left to become Preston boss and within weeks was facing reigning European champions Chelsea in the FA Cup third round - a game his side took to extra time and almost penalties.

Come the end of the season, Schumacher's men, who had been in the top six for much of the campaign, needed a final-day victory over Milton Keynes Dons to make the play-offs, but suffered an agonising 5-0 loss at Home Park.

But the seeds were sewn for a campaign which has seen the Pilgrims set the pace at the top of League One as they and Sheffield Wednesday hold an eight-point gap over third-placed Ipswich Town.

"It's been quite an enjoyable ride," said the former Everton, Bury and Bradford City midfielder.

"To be in this position as the manager of Argyle is a privilege, I work really hard and try my best every single day and the team are doing really well at the moment.

"It' a huge priority for us to try and get out of this division and back into the Championship, and for us to be one game away from Wembley as well in a cup competition is pretty good, and not bad for your first year in charge."

Under owner Simon Hallett the Pilgrims' ambition is to be a sustainable Championship club.

That means no rash spending, the like of which almost saw the club go under after going into administration in 2011.

Argyle were 4-2 winners over Cheltenham Town when the two clubs last met at Home Park a month ago

The club have seen multi-millionaire owner Hallett pump in millions, but on the understanding that it builds the infrastructure that allows Argyle to survive on its own so it does not have to go cap-in-hand to an owner every month and risk the fate that has befallen clubs such as Derby County.

"A lot of other clubs could look at our model and go 'that's a good way to do it'," said Schumacher.

"It's not how everybody chooses to do it in League One, but it's what we've been used to since I've been down here.

"Our budget is a bottom half of League One budget right now, so we have to try and work smarter.

"That's one of Simon's big things, that you can get gains if you look in areas where other people might not be, so we have to rely heavily on data analytics, if we can, for our performance team and our recruitment team and see if we can get an advantage on people.

"We have to pay less money than what our competitors do, because of our budget, so we have to find a way of getting players that can make our team better within our means.

"It's a good model, it's not an easy thing to do, it's not one that you can say 'yes, it's going to work every year', but it's one that we believe in and everyone's on the same page, so I can't go and knock on Simon's door and say 'Why can't we have £1.5m to go and sign this player?' because I know the situation and I know that's not possible, It's not what we're about."

So league or cup? Which is Schumacher's priority?

"We just want to win this game, that's all that we're focusing on," he said.

"We're doing brilliant in the league, we've had a great run, we're second in the table on goal difference and that's class.

"But if we can try and win this game it's going to be a brilliant occasion for the club that we get Argyle to Wembley again for only the third time, and a good occasion for the players as well, so we'll give it our all."