Robert Snodgrass joy – from Airdrie to Wembley

From defeat to victory, from 70,000 screaming supporters at Wembley to fewer than 3,500 in Airdrie.

On Saturday, the winger is aiming for a second promotion to the Premier League in the space of three seasons, in a match which could go a long way to determining his own future, in addition to that of Villa, the club for whom he has excelled on loan.

Whatever the outcome, it will be a far cry from Snodgrass’s first taste of play-off action 11 years ago.

Then a 19-year-old YTS player on £85-a-week, he netted twice to help part-timers Stirling Albion – where he was on loan from Livingston – past Airdrieonians and into the Scottish First Division.

Stirling’s players celebrated with a trip to Magaluf. This weekend, there is the small matter of £132million on the line for Villa. Yet for Snodgrass, the ultimate emotion is the same.

“The crowd was under 3,500 but any game which means the difference between promotion and staying down or relegation is going to be packed with nerves, emotion and excitement,” he said.

“We enjoyed winning promotion that day just as much as the Hull boys did when we won at Wembley (two years ago) to go up to the Premier League. Success is success.

“The guys you have to feel for are on the other side because losing on the final day of the season, after all the hard work you’ve put in, isn’t nice.

“When we went up with Hull we never thought about losing, we were so focused on winning.”

Snodgrass’s career would quickly take him to Leeds, where he experienced the pain of play-off semi-final defeat to Millwall in 2009.

The triumph with Hull remains one of the standout moments of his career, not solely because of the result but the way in which he battled back from a serious injury, which kept him out of the game in 16 months, to help the Tigers over the line.

“From fearing I might never play again at the start of the season – to ending it at Wembley in the play-off final in front of all those fans – was amazing,” he said.

Snodgrass sees comparisons between that campaign and the one he has experienced this year with Villa.

Having joined from West Ham with the season already several games old, he admits it took him time to get up to speed.

Yet from Christmas onward, he has been a key man, scoring seven goals and finishing joint top of the Championship assist charts with Wolves wing-back Barry Douglas.

“It feels like I’ve had three seasons in one,” said Snodgrass. “With West Ham, then coming here then getting to the play-offs.

“We know it’s going to be hard (in the final), but if you want results, you’ve got to beat the best.

“We have to beat Fulham who’ve been one of the best teams in the division.

“I’m taking about all season, even taking Wolves and Cardiff into account and they went up.

“Everybody watching Fulham would probably agree. You have to take your hat off to them, the team that just falls short doesn’t always make it in the play-offs but they had a great win on Tuesday night.

“We need to switch off now until next week. I can’t talk about Fulham, but we’re happy although we know we have a very difficult game ahead.”