When it comes to Johnstone's Paint Trophy heroics, few men can boast the record of Dons goalkeeper Willy Gueret.

As he prepares for tonight's Southern Area Final showdown at Southampton, where the Dons must win to keep their hopes of a Wembley return alive, the 36-year-old Frenchman can call on an unrivalled wealth of experience that might just tilt the balance in his team's favour.

At this stage of the competition two years ago, the Dons travelled to Gueret's former club Swansea City - then cruising to the League 1 title - where the veteran goalkeeper produced the performance of a lifetime as the Dons won 1-0 away from home.

Then, after a Swans comeback in the second leg, it was Gueret's penalty save from Jason Scotland in the shootout that sent the Dons to Wembley.

Not content with that, the Guadeloupe-born custodian crucially saved a first half penalty from Grimsby's Danny Boshell in the Final - laying the foundations for the Dons to go on and lift the Trophy after a 2-0 win.

Bash Bosh: Gueret denies Paul Boshell at Wembley.

That, Southampton will hope, is all the past. But the Saints will not have failed to notice that Gueret has been limbering up for further exploits.

Having saved Kevin Lisbie's penalty at Colchester two weeks ago, Gueret was at it again on Saturday when he crucially denied Stockport's George Donnelly - with the Dons going on to come from behind and win 3-1.

"There's never much going through your mind at that point," Gueret said. "As a goalkeeper you've got nothing to lose on penalties. If you save it, you're a hero; if you don't, nobody expected you to anyway!

"I really wanted to save the one on Saturday because I haven't had many chances to save them this season. I was really pleased with it.

"Now we can say it was a big save because, at 2-0 down, it would have been very difficult to come back. I'm pleased for the lads because we've all been working really hard, I'm just glad I could make my little contribution."

Deja Gu: Willy's at it again on Saturday as he denies Stockport's George Donnelly.

Though the odds will be stacked against the Dons tonight - trailing 1-0 and without a host of first team regulars through injury, suspension and ineligibility, Gueret is still hopeful they can pull off an upset.

And after two defeats against Southampton already this term, he feels it's about time they showed Saints they're a force to be reckoned with.

He said: "We're missing Matty (Doumbe) and Cracks (David McCracken) at the back so the Gaffer is going to have to make something up for the next couple of games, but spirits are very high in the squad to be able to cope with it.

"I'm really looking forward to Tuesday night. We played Southampton a couple of weeks ago and I still don't think we've played our best football against them.

"Hopefully on Tuesday we will be able to show them that we're a good team, match them as much as possible and hopefully win the tie. It would be good to beat them for a change."

Tickets for Tuesday night's Southern Area Final second leg are now only available from St Mary's on the night. Click here for full details.