I have already declared in my column that I think the Rams can and will beat QPR at Wembley. It will be tough, it will be close and QPR will make it especially hard if they score first. But what if the Rams lose at Wembley?
I know some Rams fans are nervous about playing in the Premier League, and are suggesting the club might be better off spending another season in the Championship to further develop.
Here is what I wrote on that train of thought several weeks ago:
My take is that we have no choice; when your time comes to be promoted, you take it and be glad of it. We can't assume that this season's performance is a floor on which to build, and that next season we are certain to be better than we are this year.
Things may not go quite so right next season.
Can we be certain that Craig Bryson will score 16 League goals from midfield next season, or that Chris Martin will score 17? What about injuries? Buxton, Forsyth and Wisdom have hardly missed a game through injury, and Keogh missed only a handful around the turn of the year; quite remarkable for a back four, and likely not repeatable.
Further forward, Hendrick and Russell have missed quite a lot of matches with injury, and Coutts has missed almost the entire season; but Bryson, Hughes, Ward, Eustace, Martin - and Sammon! - have missed very few matches with injury. Again, it’s quite likely we would suffer more injuries than this in another year.
And what of loan players? Will we ever see two more effective loanees than Wisdom and Bamford? An awful lot has gone right for the Rams this season, and we should not assume that all of this will repeat itself.
That's my feeling about why losing on Saturday, does not guarantee we will be as good or better next time around on Saturday.
Looking back into Rams history, is a great guide to what may eventuate next campaign, if the Rams lose in the playoffs?
It has happened three times; let's look at them in order.
In 1991/92 Arthur Cox's team finished third, and lost against Blackburn in the playoff semis. The following season, despite having a star-studded team with the likes of Tommy Johnson, Paul Kitson, Marco Gabbiadini and Craig Short, the Rams could finish no better than eighth. So there was no happy follow-up to that losing playoff campaign.
In 1993/94, two years after the Blackburn playoff defeat and with Roy McFarland as manager, the Rams finished sixth and again made the playoffs. This was a Rams team that included Short, Kitson, Gabbiadini and Mark Pembridge. That year we famously beat Millwall in the playoff semis, but lost to Leicester in the final. The following season the Rams finished a disappointing 9th, costing McFarland his job. Again, I'm not seeing much reason to be hopeful following a playoff loss; although it should be added that the season after the ninth-placed finish, the Rams were automatically promoted under Jim Smith.
Our most recent losing playoff campaign was in 2004/05 when George Burley's team finished fourth with a side that included Rasiak, Idiakez and Huddlestone. The Rams lost in the playoffs to Preston, and that summer was when things really turned sour. Burley was sacked and replaced by - Gulp! - Phil Brown; at least for a while. The following season finished with Terry Westley as manager and the Rams in 20th place, leading to the appointment of Billy Davies.
So forgive me if I have no appetite for the Rams losing on Saturday, but I see no guarantee that next season in the Championship would be as good as this one has been, leave alone better.
Yes the Premier League is a scary place to think about, but it's where this club needs to be.
Roll on Satdee!