With a play-off place in the bag, the experienced Leicester City trio of Wayne Brown, Matt Oakley and Steve Howard remain fully focused on this Sunday’s final league fixture against Middlesbrough.

Guaranteed a fifth place finish, the Foxes are set to play either Cardiff City or local rivals Nottingham Forest in the play-off semi-finals. Before the players’ thoughts can turn to those games and the possibility of a Wembley final, Sunday’s contest sees the chance for the team to maintain their impressive recent form, which has included four wins out of four and just two goals conceded.

Central defender, Wayne Brown sees the ‘Boro fixture as a hugely important part of the team’s play-off preparations.

“We want to win on Sunday to keep the momentum going into the play-offs. I think that’s important. Then it’s two cup finals with a home leg and an away leg which reminds me of playing in Europe, funnily enough.”

Striker Steve Howard, who is suspended for the game, agrees with Brown.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, the play-offs are all about the in-form team. We’re looking to win on Sunday and take that momentum into play-off games, which you need to do.”

Club captain Matt Oakley, who is close to a first team return after injury, believes a win on Sunday will maintain that crucial winning impetus but thinks boss Nigel Pearson may consider resting a few players.

“I think momentum is key. We’ve probably got the best record coming into the play-offs and it’s usually the team that has the form that goes on to win it. We’ve got to make sure we win on Sunday.

“The manager’s probably got ideas that he will want to rest a couple so they don’t get too tired for the other games and we don’t want any injuries. It’s a difficult one to call because you don’t want to change a team because you’re winning games. We’ll have to see. Nigel’s the one picking the team and he’s probably got a full squad to pick from for the first time this season.”

All three men have experience of playing in the play-offs and winning the Championship final at Wembley. Howard and Oakley tasted glory with Derby County in 2007 and Brown was successful with Hull City two years ago. The 32-year-old defender played the whole 90 minutes in the 2008 final and has some advice for his younger team-mates.

“It’s a funny old situation playing in the play-offs because it’s a great atmosphere, both when you’re playing at home and the away leg. It’s a great environment to play in and they’re the sort of games you want to be involved in. You want to enjoy and savour those occasions and the only way you’ll do that is if you perform well and get the right result.”

Browny is extremely confident ahead of the semi-finals and although he doesn’t have a preferred opponent, the possibility of playing Forest is something he’s considered.

“I think it’s shown this year that we’re not afraid of anybody and we don’t really care who we get because we fancy our chances against any of the other three teams.

“Obviously you’ve got Forest in there, which is a local derby and adds a little bit of spice to the occasion, but you’ve Cardiff as the other possibility and they’re a tough team as well. I think we’ve shown against both of those teams that on the day we can cause them a few problems.”