Stockport manager Jim Gannon has urged his young side to learn from his own personal play-off heartbreak as he aims to make it third time lucky at Wembley.
The Irish-born former utility player, who will lead out his side against Rochdale in Monday's Coca-Cola League Two play-off final, was involved in four play-off campaigns with the Hatters between 1990-2000 - all of which ended in the bitter taste of defeat - twice at the national stadium.
The County boss suffered a painful 6-0 aggregate play-off semi-final defeat at the hands of Chesterfield during his debut season at the club and, two years later went one stage further only to be beaten 2-1 by Peterborough at Wembley.
Another semi-final setback against Port Vale seemed to reinforce the Hatters' play-off jinx, which was confirmed the following campaign when they beat York over two legs before enduring more Wembley woe in the 2-1 defeat to Burnley at the national stadium in the 1993/94 season.
But Gannon, whose side overcame Wycombe 2-1 on aggregate in this season's semi-final, insists his own playing experiences have taught him to concentrate on winning and forget about the magnitude of the occasion.
"It's a fantastic setting and a fantastic occasion with a tremendous atmosphere but it is just another game," he said.
"Our experiences at Wembley in the past haven't been great but the experiences of getting there have been brilliant.
"There's two experiences that I will take out of it as a player into management. Firstly that the play-offs generated great confidence in our journey from the fourth division to the Championship in an incredible seven-year spell.
"And secondly I'm not going to get carried away with the success of getting to Wembley. We've been successful in getting to the play-offs and we've been successful in getting to the final but ultimately it's all about winning on the day and getting to League One and that's what we are focused on.
"There's no point going there and being participants - we want to be winners and that will make it a great occasion for every player and every fan."
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