League Two Play-Offs Preview: Burton Albion v Fleetwood Town

Burton Albion and Fleetwood Town have the carrot of a debut appearance in third-tier football to compete for at Wembley on Monday.

The two clubs, who only recently came up the Conference, meet in the League Two play-off final with the victors earning a promotion that would catapult them to the highest level on their history.

Burton, who atoned for last season’s play-off semi-final failure by beating Southend United over two legs this time around, secured League football in 2009, while Fleetwood followed in 2012.

Gary Rowett’s side finished sixth, four points behind Fleetwood, but did beat their opponents in the league and the FA Cup, though Graham Alexander’s men exacted some revenge with a 4-2 win at the Pirelli Stadium in January.

A 2-2 draw away against Southend – courtesy of goals from Marcus Holness and Adam McGurk – in the second leg of their play-off semi was enough to ensure Rowett’s charges a place in the final, with Albion having held the upper hand in the tie after a 1-0 victory in the first leg.

Fleetwood, meanwhile, scraped through a hard-fought tie against York City with a 0-0 stalemate at Highbury Stadium after winning the first leg 1-0, thanks to a strike from former Bootham Crescent favourite Matty Blair.

And, after narrowly missing out on a Wembley visit earlier in the year with a defeat to Chesterfield in the northern area final of the Football League Trophy, they may well feel that this is their time.

Former Burnley, Preston North End and Scotland stalwart Alexander took charge of Fleetwood in 2012, and now has a chance of obtaining the club’s second promotion in three seasons.

Fleetwood, who only turned professional as recently as 2010, have been transformed from a part-time, non-League outfit attracting paltry crowds to a club on the brink of competing in League One.

Their rapid rise has been influenced significantly by the investment of chairman Andy Pilley, who became chairman in 2003 when the club – which formed in its current guise in 1997 – was still several tiers below the Football League.

Burton’s tale is no less remarkable and promotion for them would signify a marked turnaround from their first few seasons in League Two, which saw the club twice flirt with relegation and finish as low as 19th.

Manager Rowett, though, is treating the fixture like any other.

“The way we’ve prepared is like it’s just another game – I know it isn’t just another game but that’s how we’re viewing it,” he told the Burton Mail.

“We won’t go down three days before, we won’t be wearing white suits – we’ll be the same as normal and I think that way the players will be as focused as possible.”