Planet Swans ArchivesTate told the Western Mail “I would still say the Hull City game is the most important because of the consequence of going out of the league.
“It’s been a brilliant ride and I wouldn’t swap it for the world,” said Tate, who has notched up more than 250 appearances for the Swans.
“Not one person of the 11,000-odd who were there that day eight years ago would have even contemplated that we would be one game away from the Premier League.
“No-one would ever have imagined this is where we would be now. From the Hull game to this for me and Leon has been unbelievable.
“We are obviously more experienced now and we’ve been there and done it before and this is a brilliant opportunity.
“I’ve been down here long enough that the fans treat me as one of their own. It does feel like I am a local boy and I have loved every minute of it.
“So I know the fans deserve a trip to Wembley.
“I don’t know what it would be like to play in the Premier League,” admitted 28-year-old Tate.
“We’ve all dreamt about it, but dreaming and reality are two different things.
“We don’t get carried away with ourselves. We only work one day to the next and we don’t allow ourselves to look too far ahead.
“I get more nervous watching games than when I am playing. When you are involved you don’t really think about it.
“It’s all about stopping the next attack and or winning the next header.
“For about 25 minutes of the semi-final it was probably the best we’ve played all season.
“Can we take that to Wembley, why not? They are similar sorts of pitches.
“Whether we are playing home, away or at a big stadium like Wembley we will always go and try to play football.
“It’s going to be a tough game.
“If we play well on the day then we are confident we can get result.
“We’ve had loads of plaudits and not many teams play better football than we do, but it is all about how we play on the day so it is up to us to perform.
“If we don’t play well then we are not going to get there, but we know if we do play well we will have a good chance.”
