Harry Forrester said Brentford’s players have absolute belief ahead of Sunday’s Play-Off Final against Yeovil Town.
The Glovers did the double over The Bees in League One this season but Harry says this has no bearing on a one-off game like the npower League One Play-Off Final, which will be played at Wembley on Sunday, May 19.
The Bees midfielder, who has scored 11 goals in 48 this season, said it is important that the side stay level-headed in the build-up to the game.
He added previous big match experiences this season- including FA Cup with Budweiser games against Chelsea home and away – will stand the side in good stead for the game.
“You don’t want to get too high or too low in the build-up, you try to stay level,” said Harry, speaking to Bees Player.
“It’s a big occasion but you can’t let it overawe you.
“We will go down to Wembley and have a feel for it and then just treat it as another game.
“We have played Yeovil twice this season so we know what they are about so we hope we can better our two results against them from before.
“The Play-Offs are a lottery.
“It is one game where there is so much at stake.
“They might be ten times more nervous than the two times we played them because of what is at stake.
“People get nervous in front of the cameras and in front of a packed stadium, we have played them twice and they have won both but we know what we are about and we have absolute belief we can get a result on Sunday.
“We have played in a number of high-profile games already this season.
“The cameras have been there, we’ve had the big crowd and that’s all helping at Wembley.
“I don’t suppose they will have played in as big a stadium with as many fans as we did at Stamford Bridge for example.
“We will take that as experience and learn from it.”
Harry said that victory at Wembley on Sunday would cap off a memorable season for him and the side.
The Bees reached the Play-Off Final by beating Swindon Town in a penalty shoot-out last Monday after drawing 1-1 in Wiltshire and 3-3 at Griffin Park.
It came at the end of a spell that included a last gasp winner against Portsmouth, a draw with nine-men against Sheffield United and missing a stoppage time penalty on the final day against Doncaster Rovers when a win would have taken The Bees up.
The 22-year-old admits it was hard watching the penalties from the side-lines but believes that game was par for the course in a crazy last six weeks of the season.
“It was very difficult to watch the penalty shoot-out without being involved in it.
“I looked around and saw the three penalty takers who were sat next to me and I thought ‘here we go again’.
“The boys are all good talented boys and we were the fitter team.
“We could have let it slip but we didn’t and we came back strong in extra time and the penalties were all excellent penalties.
“The last four to six weeks have been totally crazy.
“It has been a memorable season so far.
“The ups and downs and twists and turns have been crazy.
“We have got a number of last minutes goals this season, even though we have conceded a couple recently.
“It has been a whirlwind and hopefully we can turn it round on Sunday and enjoy the day.”
Harry is one of a number of players to have had experience of playing at Wembley in front of a big crowd following on from his England Youth International days.
He says that the pitch and the surroundings at Wembley will be beneficial to the way which The Bees want to go about playing football.
Harry added that it is important that the players go out to enjoy the occasion as games of this magnitude do not come about often.
“I have played at Wembley before for the England Under-16s when I was 16,” said Harry.
“It was a very good experience.
“I was only young and I probably didn’t know what it meant at the time.
“There were only about 20,000 there so there will be a lot more there Sunday and I am looking forward to it.
“From what I remember you do get more time and space on the ball, it does feel like a bigger pitch and it is a huge stadium but I feel that will suit us.
“We like to get the ball down and get it wide and attack teams.
“We know defensively where we need to be and we are well drilled about that.
“We will work hard on that but we will go out to attack and we have players who like to get on the ball and we have space to get on the ball to create things.
“We have fast players and players who can find you with a pass so it’s all looking rosy.
“You have to enjoy it.
“These days don’t come around too often so you have to go out and enjoy it and do yourself proud, your family proud and your teammates proud and what will be, will be.”
A full video interview with Harry Forrester is available here for Bees Player subscribers.