It really does all come down to this for Frank Lampard and Coventry City.
One game, in their own hands, and they will be in the play-offs. They could have made it easier for themselves by winning at Luton last week, but a late defeat after battling for so long with 10 players meant it wasn't to be.
"It was a tough game, and it was disappointing," Lampard tells Sky Sports. "But it's normal to feel low after a defeat like that.
"But it leaves us in a similar position. We've got one game to give everything. We haven't been in the top six all season, we've arrived to the position from being in 17th.
"If you'd had offered us this a while ago, we would have absolutely taken it. You were never going to win, win, win all the way through the season.
"But now we just need to take one more step and see if we can perform."
The final-day experience is one Lampard has had a couple of times before. His last spell in the Championship with Derby County saw them need a result to make the play-offs, which they achieved.
"That experience at Derby is a good one to have," he recalls. "I don't remember the details quite as much, but I remember the feeling and the elation when you do get there.
"I had similar at Chelsea where we needed to win on the final day to make the Champions League, and we got that done.
"There will be a lot of emotion, but as a manager of the club you're the one that has to try and stay as cool as you can."
One man who knows how to stay cool will be his opponent in the dugout on Saturday - Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick.
The two, it is safe to say, go back a long, long way. From youngsters at West Ham, to opponents in the Premier League for years - fighting for titles, meeting in a Champions League final - and team-mates with England.
The respect runs deep.
"We came from West Ham together," Lampard says. "I was a couple of years older than him, but I've had a real connection to him for a long time.
"As a team-mate or as an opponent he always carried himself with great respect. He was a great lad on the pitch and always played the game in the right way.
"He had so much quality and was always such a difficult opponent at Man Utd, and always very calm as a team-mate with England.
"I have huge respect for ex-players that have had really, really stellar careers, like Michael's had, that go and work hard as a coach.
"A lot of people on the outside don't know the context of the job. Everyone comments on your role, and that comes with the territory, but Michael keeps his head down and does great work.
"I saw him on holiday a couple of years ago and we spent a fair bit of time together as well. He's always great company."
There will no doubt be plenty of mutual respect in the build-up, but once the game kicks off it will be business time.
"It's a big game and we both have a lot riding on it," says Lampard. "But at the same time, I always respect Michael for the way he carries himself. He's really a gentleman.
"I think Middlesbrough play in a similar way to us. They have some really good attacking options and good quality in their team. So we have to prepare for that.
"They've got everything to fight for as well, so we'll have to respect them. But we also need faith in ourselves. If we can continue the home form we've shown then it gives us a good opportunity."
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Coventry find themselves in a strange position where they have risen remarkably under Lampard to reach the play-offs, but it will likely still be perceived as a failure should they miss out on the top six now.
They were 17th in the table heading into Christmas, so for it to even be in their own hands going into final day should be considered a major success.
Lampard says, however, that whatever happens on Saturday, he will be proud of his players and what they have done this season.
"The players need to believe and they need to understand what they've done this year," he says.
"We've achieved a lot since we've worked together, and I say that to them a lot, even after we've lost a game.
"They've been brilliant in terms of how they apply themselves. There's a real humility in the group, but they need to believe in themselves and make sure that, whatever happens on Saturday, they don't leave the pitch with any regret.
"In a football match many things can happen. But as long as they give everything I'll be very, very proud of them no matter what the result, because I think they've come a long way this season."
Lampard will certainly be hoping they can go one step further, and that the season does not end on Saturday.
Watch Coventry City vs Middlesbrough live on Sky Sports Main Event from 11.30am Saturday, kick-off 12.30pm.
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