Alan Tate: Swansea City coach eyes another play-off triumph ahead of Barnsley clash

Alan Tate (left) celebrates Swansea's play-off final win in 2011 with Garry Monk (centre) and Leon Britton

A season's work had come down to an Alan Tate penalty.

When the spot-kick was saved, by Barnsley goalkeeper Nick Colgan, the 2006 League One play-off final was lost and Swansea City's promotion bid was over.

"You feel like you have let everyone down," Tate recalls.

"But I said at that time that better players than me miss penalties and that still rings true today.

"It would have been nice to score, but I can't complain how it turned out in the long run."

Tate's play-off demons were laid to rest five years after Barnsley, when Swansea became the first Welsh club to reach the Premier League courtesy of a Wembley win over Reading.

Now part of Steve Cooper's coaching staff, Tate tasted play-off defeat once more last season as Swansea were beaten in the semi-finals by Brentford.

A rematch with the Bees, who play Bournemouth in this year's semi-finals, is a possibility for Cooper's team this year, but the first challenge is another play-off encounter with Barnsley.

Swansea's play-off past

Swansea are preparing for the eighth play-off campaign in their history.

The first, in 1987-88, saw Terry Yorath's team win promotion to Division Three thanks to a two-legged victory over Torquay.

Five years later, a semi-final defeat to West Brom ended hopes of reaching the second tier.

They made it to Wembley for the 1996-97 Third Division play-off final, only for John Frain's retaken free-kick to secure victory for Northampton in stoppage time.

There was a semi-final loss to Scunthorpe in the fourth tier two years later, before the Barnsley loss at the Millennium Stadium.

"There's nothing worse than losing a play-off final because you don't get anything, you just get ushered off the pitch," says Tate, 38.

"I missed the last penalty. Barnsley were going up to lift the trophy and we were getting moved off the pitch. It's not like you even get a medal. You just get moved on.

"But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger as they say and it definitely did that for me on a personal level."

Adebayo Akinfenwa is consoled by Lee Trundle (left) and Roberto Martinez following Swansea's play-off defeat to Barnsley in 2006

Striker Adebayo Akinfenwa had sent his penalty over the bar earlier in the shootout, meaning Tate's miss ended Swansea's hopes.

Tate was "always quite tough mentally", but says that low point drove him on further down the line.

"I have never been one who's bothered about what people say about me," he says.

"But it probably made me appreciate the good times and made me think 'I don't want to feel like this again'."

'I look back with pride'

If Barnsley was one of the hardest moments of Tate's career, the 2010-11 play-off campaign was arguably the finest.

Swansea won an epic semi-final against Nottingham Forest 3-1 on aggregate before beating Reading in one of the most memorable Championship finals.

Brendan Rodgers' team roared into a 3-0 half-time lead only for two Reading goals early in the second period to leave them on the brink of collapse.

Garry Monk, Tate's long-time defensive partner, made the block of his life to prevent a Royals equaliser before Scott Sinclair's second penalty of the game settled the contest.

"It was just a brilliant achievement and it's one I look back at with pride," Tate says.

"It's not that I look back often, but when people talk to me about it it's always like 'yeah I played my part in that and it's something that was brilliant for the club and the city'."

Alan Tate, Fabio Borini and Joe Allen celebrate with hat-trick hero Scott Sinclair during Swansea's 2011 win over Reading

What chance another Wembley triumph?

Swansea finished fourth in the Championship yet are fourth favourites with bookmakers to come through the play-offs, presumably due to their inconsistent form in the latter stages of the season.

Cooper's men won only three of their last 11 games, while Barnsley charged into the top six thanks to a remarkable run which began in early February.

Brentford go into the play-offs on the back of a 12-game unbeaten stretch, while Bournemouth put together an eye-catching seven-match winning streak before finishing the regular season with three straight defeats.

Swansea's challenge is to return to the performance levels reached on a regular basis in the first two-thirds of the season, when they beat the likes of Norwich, Watford and, on two occasions, Barnsley.

"If you catch us on our day we have got a very good team, like all the teams in the play-offs," states Tate.

"I think the key in the play-offs is don't be out of it after the first leg. That's got to be your starting point."

Swansea won the first leg last season thanks to an Andre Ayew goal, only for a 3-1 loss at Brentford to send the Bees to Wembley.

The core of the side beaten last July will run out for this year's semi-final first leg on Monday night, and Tate believes they will be better placed to progress this time around.

"Just like my mistakes and what I learnt from 2006, hopefully that's the same for these lads and I think it will be," he adds.

"Hopefully they take that feeling from last year, that disappointment from the second leg, and they carry it on this year and take full advantage.

"It will not be for a lack of trying if they don't, I can tell you that."