This season has certainly been more memorable than the last one for Oli Hawkins.

The 30-year-old's one campaign in Ipswich was pretty miserable, all things considered. He played only 23 games, scored just one goal and spent the entirety of his season in Suffolk playing in front of empty stands.

There were things to like about his game, with a decent touch and the odd neat lay-off, as well as his winning goal against Crewe. But he wasn’t ever effective enough.

It’s fair to say Ipswich were shopping in different markets, when you compare his arrival in the summer of 2020 under Paul Lambert and Marcus Evans and the Blues’ business since their American takeover.

And it’s the great summer rebuild of 2021 which ultimately saw Hawkins depart given, even though he was under contract, Paul Cook was keen to move him on and he quickly joined Mansfield for a nominal fee.

And it’s at Field Mill the fun began for Hawkins. It’s ending with a Wembley play-off final clash with Port Vale tomorrow and the opportunity for him to secure a return to League One with the Stags.

“He’s been playing in teams who have competed towards the top end of League One in the last few seasons and we’re excited to add him to our existing line-up of strikers.”

Those are the words of Mansfield boss Nigel Clough, who very much signed Hawkins to lead the line and that’s exactly how things started.

The striker scored on his Mansfield debut as Clough’s side beat Bristol Rovers, with a brace coming just a few days later against Bradford.

But as mid-September rolled around, the Stags had not kept a single clean sheet and had lost five games in a row, prompting Clough to pull the big striker back into a central defensive role.

It wasn’t completely alien to Hawkins, he’d played a bit of centre-half at Portsmouth. But he did that with the No.9 on his back. He’s always been a striker.

“Oli is probably as good as we've got at centre half, though we have not actually seen him play there yet,” Clough said at the time. “We know from past things he has done.

“But he is also our best centre forward at the moment.

“So if we can do without moving him we will leave him where he is. I wish we'd got two of him.”

But Clough did eventually make the switch, with Hawkins helping Mansfield keep two clean sheets in his first three games as a defender and bring a new-found confidence to the back line.

They’ve not looked back, with a run of eight wins in nine games with Hawkins at centre-back between December and February setting the tone for their push to the play-offs.

There were a few hiccups, including the game in which Clough described the experienced duo of Hawkins and John-Joe O’Toole as ‘infantile’ following their roles in a brawl against Bradford, which led to both picking up needless suspensions.

But, in the main, Hawkins has been a dependable figure at the heart of a defence which has also included former Ipswich right-back Elliott Hewitt.

He’s played 45 matches this season, with 31 at centre-half, and has scored eight goals. Four came as a striker and four as a centre-back.

Hawkins’ last trip to Wembley ended in victory, as he helped Pompey beat Sunderland on penalties in the EFL Trophy in 2019.

He’ll be hoping for the same outcome this weekend.