SOMETIMES it is nice to be proved wrong.

I am the first to admit I did not see Mark Cooper’s plans for the play-offs coming to fruition.

Too little game time and not enough match practice to get sharp.

I thought Town might be underdone and undone by a Blades outfit still flowing with competitive juices.

Monday night’s second home leg was a great spectacle - I doubt many will ever see a 10-goal thriller again - especially in the play-offs.

However, it was the first leg display that impressed me more.

Monday night was a slug fest.

A wonderful slug fest, but a slug fest nonetheless.

Last Thursday was stern examination of nerve and discipline that Town passed with guile belying their experience.

Ultimately it was the platform built at Bramall Lane that sees so many Town fans paying through their noses for a big day out in London a week on Sunday.

To overcome the Blades’ early onslaught and go on to win showed the strength of will certain to be vital on the big stage of Wembley.

Cooper will want to forget all about Monday’s defensive circus and instead draw on the positives of the display in Sheffield.

I suppose it is the performance there that has me gleefully tucking into the humble pie.

I did not see it coming.

The side put out against Colchester the week before was largely the same as the one that lined up in the first leg.

But for Harry Toffolo’s dead leg it would have been even closer.

Yet in Essex, Town were woefully devoid of spirit and attacking invention.

Nine days later, almost the same group of players had rediscovered the swagger lost since the end of January.

They played with a purpose and backbone devoid throughout April.

The plan had worked. Fit and motivated players got better as the night wore on.

It is simple when you think about it.

Now, with a bigger gap to prepare for the club’s biggest game in five years and a team likely to be shorn of at least one Thompson brother, Cooper must be able to repeat the trick.

This time many, myself included, will not be so quick to cast doubt on the decisions of the man at the helm.