Elgin City manager Gavin Price is driven by the hurt of 2016 in his efforts to guide the Black and Whites to play-off glory.
After finishing third in League Two, Elgin host Edinburgh City in the first leg of their promotion play-off semi-final today, with the return fixture at Ainslie Park on Tuesday.
Should the Moray side progress, they will set up another two-legged tie against Stranraer or Dumbarton for a place in League One next season.
Price was assistant to Jim Weir when Elgin last reached the play-offs five years ago, before suffering a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Clyde at the semi-final stage.
The City boss has shared the pain of that experience with his squad and he is determined to achieve a different outcome this time around.
Price said: “The mood is fantastic around the whole club. From the directors down to the players and staff, we are all really happy with the achievement to get there when we were up against it.
“We now need to reset and refocus. We have been in this position before, five years ago this week, when we went out to Clyde.
“It’s not a nice feeling, it’s an anti-climax.
“I have been stressing to the players that it’s one achievement getting there, but it really doesn’t feel good when you go out in the semi-finals.
“We need to have a real focus again like we have had in the last few games, and hopefully we can get through to the final.”
Price hopes his side can take the momentum they need from their strong end to the campaign, which saw them win three of their last four matches.
He added: “The last run of games should give us all the self-belief we need.
“We have turned a corner since the Albion Rovers game. They have been magnificent, they have knuckled down and responded to the criticism they got.
“We have put ourselves in a position now where we are 180 minutes away from a potential final, which the club has never done in its history.”
Elgin were defeated 2-0 by Edinburgh City only last weekend, with Price regarding the Citizens as favourites for the tie.
Price, who has a full squad available, feels a better showing against Gary Naysmith’s side can produce the result he craves.
He added: “We will definitely learn from it. We have done a bit on that during the week, albeit by Zoom.
“We treat every game on its merit, but I thought we underperformed against them and they played very well.
“Because of their results against us, they will probably go into the two games as favourites, but that’s sometimes the way we do better.
“If we perform how we can perform, we have an excellent chance of going through.”
