Neutrals feeling unable to whip up much enthusiasm for today's FA Cup Final might be encouraged to know there's a strong Wirral connection to one of the teams facing each other at Wembley.

Home-grown talent Jon Walters is a Stoke City striker and will be aiming to help his team bring home the world-famous trophy when they take on Manchester City.

Jon, who hails from Moreton and still lives in South Wirral, has seen his football career go from strength to strength since he was signed to Blackburn Rovers’ youth team in 2000.

From there, he played for clubs including Hull City and Chester City and was made skipper at Ipswich Town before making his move to the Potteries last year.

The Republic of Ireland international was called up in November 2010 for the friendly match against Norway and was brought on as a half-time substitute to make his senior debut.

The dad-of-three, who scored twice in Stoke's 5-0 semi-final destruction of Bolton Wanderers to secure their place in Saturday's showpiece, will be cheered on by family and friends who will travel down to Wembley for the big game.

He said helping Stoke into their first FA Cup Final has been the pinnacle of his career so far.