Huddersfield manager Simon Grayson has played down the importance of the first goal when his side defend a 2-0 lead on Tuesday night in the return leg of their npower League One play-off semi-final against MK Dons.
Town turned in one of their best displays under former Leeds boss Grayson in the first leg at stadium:mk last Saturday as goals from Jordan Rhodes and Jack Hunt gave them a distinct advantage.
Dons manager Karl Robinson insists his side can complete a remarkable turnaround at the Galpharm Stadium and an early goal for the visitors would put them right back in the tie.
But Grayson, who replaced the sacked Lee Clark in February, said: "The first goal is important, but it isn't defining. If MK Dons get the first and we get the second goal then we're still in a good position.
"Without being big-headed, we believe we're good enough to win the game and finish off the tie."
Huddersfield, beaten in last year's play-off final by Peterborough and by Millwall in the previous season's semi-finals, were in the race for automatic promotion this season until a run of four defeats in five matches in March and early April effectively scuppered their chances.
The Terriers, who also lost to Barnsley in the 2005/06 play-off semi-finals after winning the first leg at Oakwell 1-0, finished this season one point above the Dons in the table.
Grayson, bidding for his third promotion from League One, said: "We can't rest on our laurels. We did what we needed to do on Saturday and need to finish the job off on Tuesday night."
Manchester City's last-gasp heroics yesterday in snatching back the Barclays Premier League crown from Manchester United served as a stark reminder to Grayson that nothing is certain until after the final whistle.
"If we get the first goal it will give us a massive boost," he added. "But if we don't then everybody has to stay strong.
"It's still game on - as we saw on Sunday things can change dramatically in football."
Dons boss Robinson has not given up the ghost and will have his players fired-up for the return leg.
"The game's not over yet," he said. "We can still turn it round. It's what happens when the whistle blows on Tuesday."
Robinson's side lost to Peterborough at the same stage in last season's play-offs, while the Dons were beaten on penalties by Scunthorpe in the 2008/09 semi-finals under Roberto Di Matteo.
"There's something about this tie that's just a little bit different than how it felt before," Robinson added.
"We can make them nervy. If you can exploit their complacency then the nerves will kick in.
"There's something in this, I can't put my finger on it.
"We'll need the heart, the hunger and desire, and the quality. The first components were there [on Saturday], we were just missing the quality.
"But we know we can go there and turn this around."
