Dougas aims to banish memories of play-off heartbreak
3:34pm Friday 9th May 2008
Leeds United captain Jonathan Douglas is looking to purge the memory of his Championship play-off heartbreak two years ago.
Douglas, 26, leads Leeds into their League One promotion semi-final, first leg, against Carlisle at Elland Road on Monday night as a rare survivor from the club's 3-0 hammering by Watford in the Championship play-off final.
And the former Blackburn midfielder remembers the miserable journey home from the Millennium Stadium, knowing Leeds had blown their chance of returning to the Premiership.
"It was very difficult for us travelling back from Cardiff with all that weight on our shoulders," he said. "It was a journey I didn't enjoy. If I hadn't been getting married I would have been a lot more cut up about it."
Now, two years on, Douglas is dreaming of a Wembley celebration if Leeds can knock Carlisle out of the play-offs and go on to triumph in the final.
He said: "It has been a hard season for the players. We didn't know what was happening about the 15 points the League took off us from the season's start.
"Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet left too, but the players have stuck together and really gelled as a team.
"We all knew at the start we had a massive hill to climb. We climbed it to reach the play-offs but we haven't got to the top yet. Hopefully on May 25 we will reach the peak."
The play-offs are a welcome bonus for Douglas, who feared his season was over when he suffered a serious knee injury just before Christmas.
He was back in three months, and said: "It was frustrating, wanting to take this club forward and not being able to do it because I was out for so long, but I want to thank the physios. It was a nasty injury and they got me right quicker than expected.
"I've been on an emotional roller-coaster, reaching the Championship play-offs one year then getting relegated the next. Now we are in the League One play-offs.
"We have shown what we are capable of and we are probably the best team in the play-offs on paper, but that doesn't mean a thing if we don't perform."