Experience of winning play-offs/promotion - help or hindrance?

[bencher]

I think the general mood amongst fans is that we're slightly less excited about tonight's match compared to 2 years ago, and I sense that it's less to do with being unable to attend, and more a kind of scar tissue from last year's abject failure. The fact that we've won at Wembley and won promotion before - do we think it plays into the players' psyche as well? That they're less excited about the prospect of promotion than 2 years ago, more fearful of life in the PL, in doubt as to their abilities to play at the higher level, compared to the fearlessness and freshness that Brentford players may have?

Or could that knowhow give our players the confidence to play the game just right and get the job done?

[ChesterTheTabby]

Makes no difference, just like season form makes no difference, the better team will win and cooler heads will prevail!

[Sting of the North]

I think that players at this level always strive to better themselves. If anything they want to prove that the failures of last time in the PL was not a true reflection of them having met their upper limit as athletes, but just a bump in the road. I am not at all worried that they are not up to it, and I am convinced that everything else alike it is an advantage for us that we have more players that have been through this before.

[Carborundum]

If there were 80,000 fans there, experience of playing big games might be factor.  In an empty stadium, I doubt it.