I CAN'T wait to lead Albion out at the new Wembley on Monday.

Last time I played at Wembley I was a 20-year-old with Watford and we beat Bolton in the 1999 Championship play-off final.

Eight years on I'm proud to be captaining Albion and I just hope I can help us get back to the Premiership.

The build-up to the game has dragged on a bit but we've been mentally preparing in the right way and we're itching to get going now.

We're chilled out and relaxed, not too tense or uptight, and it helped taking a look around the new stadium yesterday (Wednesday) - the lads enjoyed it.

It was especially important for the younger lads to go and have a look so all their minds are clear and ready for the game now.

The old stadium was lovely and a beautiful sight with the twin towers.

The only thing left is Wembley Way but the new stadium is fantastic and with a bigger capacity it will be a great atmosphere.

The seats are a lot closer to the pitch and the tunnel is different.

The old tunnel meant a long walk out in front of the crowd.

Hopefully the atmosphere will be electric and it will be a great game to play in.

Going to Wembley did bring back some memories from 1999 as well and it just reminded me to go there and enjoy it.

We'll be looking to continue the form we've shown in our last four games, which we've won.

We've also kept three clean sheets in those matches.

We're making it hard for teams to break us down, which is a great sign for us.

We just need to keep the momentum going now and see where it takes us.

When you get a settled team and things are going well for you it always helps.

We've been unlucky with injuries and suspensions throughout the season so the defence has chopped and changed bit.

But Sam's come in and done a great job and Chris Perry is a fantastic player.

He brings the best out of others when you play with him because of his experience and his positioning.

It's also great to have Clem back around the players after his suspension because he always gets his head down and works hard.

I watched Derby's play-off games against Southampton.

They've got a lot of players who can put themselves around and they're a big side who will be good at set-pieces.

Steve Howard has scored a lot of goals in this league.

He's a big powerful striker and we need to make sure we don't give him free headers or space to get opportunities.

We just need to make sure we're right.

And we've got the quality in the team to open teams up and score goals.

Honours are even between the two sides in the league this term, with a win apiece.

But this is a totally different game from the two league games and we just need to focus on performing as a team on Monday.

The fans were different class against Wolves at The Hawthorns in the semi-final second leg and they have been all season.

They make an extra special noise and we're hoping for the same at Wembley.

It will be a great day for the fans.

They were brilliant at Wolves in the FA Cup and at Coventry when we took big followings and I'm sure, with 33,000 of them at Wembley, they'll be loud and bubbly again.

We're treating it as a normal away game and that means I'll be rooming with Jonno the night before.

We'll just prepare as we usually do by having a laugh and joke and winding the others up with a few tricks.

And for those of you who are interested, the lucky underpants will be at Wembley.

If we win, no-one's getting their hands on them, I'm framing them!