With at least 180 minutes of football sitting between Sheffield United and a shot at promotion to the Sky Bet Championship, boss Nigel Clough does not believe anything will be decided in the first 90.
The Blades welcome Mark Cooper's Swindon to Bramall Lane for the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final on Thursday as they begin a campaign they hope will end their four-year stay in the third tier.
There is plenty of football to be played before a possible trip to Wembley, though, and Clough wants his side to be in a strong position when they head to the County Ground for Monday night's second leg.
"They are going to be big occasions, none more so than the first leg," he said.
"Very few are decided in the first leg, with all the will in the world I don't think we are going to win 4-0 and it be game over, so the real one will be the second leg on Monday night but we have to put ourselves in a good position.
"You can lose them, if you're the away side and you get a victory in the first leg it puts you in a very strong position.
"That is the first thing, we want to go with a lead but if not it needs to be level."
Having got to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup in the last two seasons, beating a host of Barclays Premier League clubs along the way, the Blades are well versed in playing the big occasions.
Despite that, Clough believes Swindon, who finished fourth in the table, are favourites, even though the Robins won only two of their final nine games.
"We're not favourites, they have had the better league campaign, they are probably just favourites based on that," he added.
"Plus Mark and his team have known they are going to be in it for a long time and he has changed his team from week to week, making nine changes in the last couple of weeks.
"So I think than can lead to a little bit of inconsistency in results and probably a little bit of false representation as a team. They are better than what they have shown."
Unsurprisingly Cooper is adamant his side should be classed as underdogs given the stature of their opponents, who finished a place below them and eight points worse off during the regular campaign.
"It's a massive club for League One and they've got some really good players, some really good staff, a fantastic stadium and brilliant supporters," he said.
"It's a great club but it's all about the occasion and who plays well on the day. The names mean nothing. They're in League One, we're in League One and, as good players as they are, it's 11 versus 11."
"When you look at their record in knockout football over the last couple of years, it's been very good. We're fully aware of that and they've got some good players.
"They've got a really big squad and it's filled with experienced, good, solid players.
"We know that for us to have any chance of progressing we're going to have to perform at our very best."
Source: PA
