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Missing out would be failure for Blues
SKIPPER David McCracken says it would be failure if Wanderers' season finished without a trip to Wembley - but he isn't contemplating that with the players at Blues' disposal.
The captain is not even guaranteed a starting place for Sunday's big match, such is the form of Mike Williamson and Leon Johnson at the back, and he reckons that sort of strength of depth in the squad should see Blues through.
He said: "We are confident. We know we have got the players who should be in the final and it is about doing it on the pitch now.
"We've got a lot of experience in the team and there is a wee bit of youth and a lot of energy as well.
"The way we are playing we are happy to take on anybody. My biggest concern would be Stockport's pitch but it is the same for them.
"If we don't get to the final all that hard work throughout the season will have been for nothing."
A lot of the focus in the build-up to the big match has centred on the 6-0 defeat Blues suffered at Stockport in December but a more relevant result might be the 0-0 draw the sides shared at Adams Park on Easter Monday.
McCracken said: "That 6-0 up there is what kick-started our season and when they came down here I felt a bit of revenge was needed.
"It never happened as we drew the game. Maybe it is fate that we have got them again and hopefully we will put them out.
"It's about being professional and getting the job done.
"They are a good side and a lot of people had them down to go straight up and sometimes that disappointment can affect teams.
"It is down to us and how we perform. We are good enough and I'm totally confident.
"We want to go up there with a lead because the second game is going to be very hard.
"In the home game we have got to take it to them but it is not all about your home leg."
He added: "It would be magnificent for me to lead the team out at Wembley. I just hope I've done enough to get into the side but it s not about me getting a game, it's about the team and winning."
Mike Williamson, the man who has taken McCracken's centre half berth and his armband, is also determined to see the job through.
He said: "We've not achieved anything yet. There's a lot to do."
The Blues have equalled the club's points record with 78 this season and also matched the club's clean sheet record with 19 league shut-outs but Williamson says that will mean little if the Blues don't claim the big prize.
He said: "We can't look back on the records until we've achieved promotion. Records are nice but they won't mean anything unless we have won promotion. That was our main aim at the start of the season and it still is now.
"We've got Stockport over two legs. That gives us two chances to get to Wembley instead of one. Whoever wins this one will be favourites."
8:29am Friday 9th May 2008
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