Planet Swans ArchivesSwansea City will travel to the City Ground on Thursday for the first leg against Nottingham Forest – their Chairman's fourth play off in the eight years he has been involved.
And he hopes it will be fourth time lucky – all three previous ventures have resulted in semi final defeat.
And he is calling on their supporters to back them all the way, as he explained to the Nottingham Evening Post "Our fans follow us home and away and, at the City Ground, we have turned around the atmosphere there. We have made it a fortress
"Maybe there was a reputation, a few years ago, that if you kept Forest to 0-0 at home, the fans would soon start to wobble a little bit.
"But now it is a wonderful place to play football and I would implore our fans to come along on Thursday and get behind us.
"What I would say is that we now have a few days to sell 30,000 tickets, which is no mean feat.
"But we want the City Ground to be full and rocking on Thursday evening.
"I am sure our fans will respond. What we want is a terrific atmosphere – the kind that there was at Palace, which both sets of fans contributed to.
"Going to Wembley is not the end. Going and playing well at Wembley is not the end. It is about where we finish," he said.
"It is a bit like a machine with 100 parts, if 99 of those work and one doesn't, then the machine is useless.
"We have to win at Wembley, whether that is this season or next.
"But the club is in great shape. We have no outside debt and even Robbie Savage described us as being a club that is very well equipped.
"We are a young side, we have to focus, not on the trip (to Wembley) but the result.
"It is a wonderful achievement for the club and we are all very delighted
"It has been a rollercoaster season, but we do seem to be going on an upward curve right now.
"I always had faith in Billy and the squad. The spirit is there and, like in any business, you are going to have ups and downs.
"But you just stay with it, as we have done. The media and other people make a lot of going into the play-offs in good form.
"I am not sure that it matters. This will be my fourth play-offs in eight seasons and we have not reached the final yet.
"Each time we have played, whether you talk about Sheffield United, Yeovil or Blackpool, it has always ended the same.
"It has often looked like we are going to Wembley but, for one reason or another, whether it is nervous energy or too much adrenaline, we seem to run out of gas and lose the game in the final quarter of the two legs.
"We have made that point to the players that history can sometimes be a predictor of what might happen. We will remain calm."
