O’Connor: We can break play-off curse

Captain Kevin O’Connor insists it can be lucky number seven for Brentford when they look to bury their play-off hoodoo against Yeovil at Wembley.

The Bees have been involved in six play-off campaigns but have yet to make it over the last hurdle and earn promotion.

They were beaten at Wembley by Crewe in 1997 and five years later had their dreams shattered by Stoke City at the Millennium Stadium.

Brentford have now reached their third final after the dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Swindon on Monday – and O’Connor is targeting a slice of club history.

He said: “We’ve got to break the run some time, why not this time?

“We’ve got as good a chance as any and we’ve got a top quality squad so hopefully we can do it.

“I think the last final was 2002, under Steve Coppell, so it’s a different team and a different manager. We’ll be going there full of confidence.”

Yeovil did the double over Brentford in the regular season and earned their place in the final by defeating fancied Sheffield United over two legs.

But O’Connor said the previous results would have little bearing on the showpiece.

He said: “It’s a one-off game, a massive occasion in a massive stadium.

“They’re good at what they do. They’ve beaten us twice this season so we probably owe them one.

“Maybe they’ll be confident [after the two league victories] but we’ll be confident as well. It’s just who performs on the day.”

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