Boss John Fowler has prepared his Whyteleafe underdogs for the first of two possible cup finals.

The Leafe go to Folkestone Invicta tonight for the Ryman Division One play-off semi-final, vying for a spot in Saturday’s final against either Merstham or Faversham Town.

Fowler insists all the pressure is on their hosts – who missed out in last season’s play-offs to Leatherhead – as the Leafe were not even expected to finish in the top half of the table.

However, they are now just two one-off games from a second successive promotion, this time to the Ryman Premier Division.

Fowler said: “Whatever happens we have had a good season. There is no pressure on us, it’s all on Folkestone.

“Everyone expected us to be in the lower half of the table, so this is a bonus and we have to treat it like a cup final.”

He added: “Folkestone are a strong and experienced side, it’s no wonder they’re at the top on a regular basis.

“But we know that on our day we can beat anyone, we just need to make sure we are on our game from the start.”

Having won eight on the spin, Leafe were safely ensconced in the play-offs with two games of the regular season remaining.

However, after two defeats Fowler admitted that they had relaxed a little too much, but at the same time he has a fully fit squad available.

“The defeat at Worthing was the worst, it looked like the guys were going through the motions and had taken their foot off the pedal – chances are they did not want to get injured,” he said.

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“But the Herne Bay game was better and it was a result that could have gone either way.

“We tried a few new things and got some fringe players more game time, there are positives in that we’ve rested some key names and I don’t see the defeats changing anything tonight.”

Folkestone boast the league’s joint leading goalscorer in Ian Draycott (33), and Fowler also fears the pace of winger Jordan Wright – another of the reasons he insists Leafe are the underdogs.

“The plans we’ve made for next season are all geared to be still being in Division One South,” he said.

“They can easily be reviewed, but it would be an amazing achievement to win promotion and it is something we cannot think about at the moment.

“If we get through tonight, we move onto Saturday’s final, then who knows?”