The ‘cup final’ against Dagenham promised to be nail-biting affair and it didn’t disappoint as Town pinched the final play-off position with a deserved 2-1 win, writes James Pugh.

Credit must go to the manger, players and the fans as Town won only their third league away win all season and managed to pull off a hard-fought victory against the favourites to get the last play-off place.

We haven’t been easy to watch away from home this season, but when they had to the players certainly delivered, which sets up a tie with Bury.

I thought all the players worked their socks off and put in brilliant performances, which has been a rare thing in the second half of the season. In particular, Humphreys and Holt both scored one and created a goal for the other, while all our defenders were terrific.

We were coasting in the first half and were in dreamland at 2-0, but as usual the opposition got a goal back and pegged us back in the second half.

It was also nice to have McIntyre back after a long-term injury and not only did he perform well for 90 minutes, he made the team look more balanced. He has his critics, but no one can argue with the fact we have missed him. If I was Simpson, I wouldn’t be changing that starting line-up for the game against Bury.

‘Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, we’re going to Wembley.’ That was the song the fans were chanting throughout the match, and although it’s early days, we have finished the season on a high and when it comes to the play-offs, it is difficult to pick a favourite. We have played Bury away recently and although they beat us 2-1, I thought they were no better than us.

Having finished the season in the last play-off place, it means we supposedly have the tougher tie, starting at home on Thursday, followed by the return leg on Sunday. Ideally we would have liked to been away first, but it means we need to target at least a 2-0 lead in the home leg.

A brief word on the fans – I thought they were terrific and really helped to inspire the players, even when Dagenham threatened to get back into it at 2-1. It was a nice gesture by Simpson to tell his players to come back on to the pitch after the final whistle to thank the fans for their support. I wonder how many other teams would have been backed by 1,400 fans at Dagenham! Same again against Bury please!

I was spot on with my 2-1 prediction against Dagenham and I’m going to try and get it right again – Town to win 2-1 on Thursday and draw 1-1 in the return fixture. As for who I would rather see us play in the final – I don’t really think it matters because we are capable of beating anyone.

Congratulations also must go to Grant Holt and Ben Davies for getting into the League Town Team of the Year. No real surprise and without them this season we wouldn’t have even been thinking about promotion.