Norwich City midfielder Gary O'Neil has been speaking about the prospect of facing former club Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final on Monday.
O'Neil played in and won last year's final for Queen's Park Rangers, as well as the 2012 edition for West Ham against Blackpool, and he feels that his own experience of Wembley will stand him in good stead ahead of English football's most lucrative fixture.
"I think I prepared better for the second one, definitely, having already experienced the first one," he stated. "I’ll try to pass that on to a few of the boys."
The Canaries were only relegated from the Premier League last season and as such are perhaps more used to playing in such large stadiums than their opponents, who are targeting a first return to the top flight since 2009.
“The lads have been involved in big games before so we’ll make sure we’re ready and fully prepared," O'Neil continued. "Once you’ve been involved in Premier League matches, this isn’t massively different.
Obviously it’s a lot more intense on the day with the whole season riding on it. It’s important you don’t get caught up in how much it means because it can definitely affect your performance. We haven’t discussed this one yet. We’ll be preparing later in the week for Middlesbrough, and I’m sure the gaffer will have a plan as he always does."
However, the 32-year-old insists that there is no extra personal motivation as he faces Aitor Karanka's Boro, for whom he made over 100 league appearances in four years between 2007 and 2011.
“They’ve had a good season, and are a good side who are strong defensively. They don’t score many goals but have beaten us twice this year, so hopefully it’s our turn. There’s no extra motivation needed because the hard work of a whole season is riding on 90 minutes. We all want to be in the Premier League. They’ll have the exact same aims as us. Hopefully we can come out on top."