Michael Nelson knows the agony of play-off failure – and has no intention of suffering it again.

Centre half Nelson is ready to lock horns again with Burton’s Calvin Zola for the second time in under a fortnight.

And he will be spurred on by painful memories of previous exits in the promotion shoot-outs. Nelson has been involved in three previous play-off attempts – and come up short each time.

The lowest point was with Hartlepool in 2005 when they lost in the final to Sheffield Wednesday. It is something he does not want to repeat.

“We were eight minutes away from getting promoted,” he recalled. “We were 2-1 up and then the ref decided to give a penalty and send Chris Westwood off.

“They won 4-2 in extra-time and the feeling afterwards was horrendous. Lose the final and the problem is you can’t do anything about it.

“You’ve got the whole summer to sit and ponder and wonder about what happened. It ruins your break because it’s weighing on your mind all the time.

“Even when you come back in for pre-season training, you’ve still got six weeks before you start the next league campaign.

“I don’t know if many of the other boys have been through that but I’m sure I’ll be mentioning it before the game. It’s something that definitely spurs you on.”

With Andrew Davies suspended, Nelson will partner Rory McArdle as they hope to shut out the Brewers as they did at Valley Parade last time.

After feeling a bit part during the Capital One Cup heroics, the 33-year-old January signing is delighted to be in the thick of the action.

He added: “It wasn’t a case of being made to feel left out, just that I’d not been with the boys on the journey they had been through.

“I was sat on the bench at Aston Villa and that was my first involvement apart from a few days’ training.

“The boys made me feel welcome but once we did get to Wembley, it didn’t feel the same because I hadn’t been there along the way for the nights like Wigan and Arsenal.

“No doubt if we do get to Wembley again, it will feel a little bit different.”

Not that anyone at City is thinking that far ahead. They may be narrow favourites according to the odds-makers but Nelson, more than most, knows that this mini-tournament does not consider reputations.

“The play-offs are a lottery. You see it every year when a team scrapes in by the skin of their teeth and end up going up.

“There are four good teams in there and everyone will think they have a real chance. You’ve got to keep your feet on the ground.

“We’re just concentrating on tonight now and once that’s out of the way it will be Sunday. Fingers crossed, if we’ve done enough in the two games we’ll be going to Wembley.”

Nelson delivered his best performance in a City shirt to muzzle Zola 12 days ago and he is ready for round two.

“It’s nice to have played Burton so recently and it gives you a little bit of a boost. You’ve seen the way they play and hopefully that will help.”