GOAL hero Wade Elliott revealed how his dad was the inspiration behind his Wembley winner.

After seeing his stunning first-half strike sail into the top corner, the winger turned and blew a kiss towards his parents in the packed Clarets end.

It was three years to the day since his father, Frank, was operated on for throat cancer, and Elliott revealed: “I spoke to my dad the night before to check he was alright coming up on the train. He and my mum set off in the morning from Southampton.

“He told me it was three years ago that he had an operation for throat cancer and said ‘I have won that battle, and you’re going to win tomorrow.’ “When I scored, my first thought was run to them, but it was hot and they were at the other end.

“So I stayed where I was. We just tried to calm ourselves down. You often see when you score, teams concede straight away. We tried to keep our heads and make sure we didn’t get carried away.

“Thankfully that is how it came out. I am humbled. The moment could have happened to anyone, I just feel blessed that it happened to me.”

And Elliott described the moment that the ball left his right foot. “It took a long while to drop in but it was nice build-up. I remember it rolling to me, it was curling away from me a little bit so I couldn’t really strike it. I had to curl it,” he said.

“I just tried to get a purchase on it and like I said it just dropped in. It was a pretty good feeling.

“I think it will take a little while to sink in. Maybe when we get back to Burnley. The atmosphere in the town was buzzing and you could see how much it meant to everybody, but you couldn’t let that affect you.

“It is a terrific club, the history is unbelievable. They have not had a lot of success over the last few years. No group of fans are more deserving to have a crack at it.”

And former Bournemouth winger Elliott described last season’s decision to sign a contract extension as “the best decision I have ever made”, adding: “I did not have any desire to leave, I always felt we could be competing. People might not have thought we were one of the fancied teams but we always believed.

“We knew we did not have the biggest squad in the world, but we knew we had quality, a great spirit.

“It has been a long old season, but it has been the best season I have ever been involved in.

“Hopefully we can top it again.”