Cast your mind back a year. Derby County had just won 2-1 at Southampton and needed just a draw at Pride Park to reach the play-off final. An early Darren Moore goal appeared to have cemented a trip to Wembley, although the Saints were having none of it, winning the match 3-2 to take the tie into extra-time where the Rams eventually succeeded on penalties (and subsequently achieved an ill-fated but lucrative promotion).

There was a similar story down the road from Derby, where the Rams’ fiercest rivals Nottingham Forest had a two-goal advantage going into their second leg match against Yeovil. A James Perch brace at Huish Park had seemingly put the Tricky Trees firmly in the driving seat – surely a vociferous home crowd would cheer them on to a comfortable overall victory and they could take a step nearer to the Championship.

Russell Slade’s men made sure this didn’t happen with an amazing 3-1 win at the City Ground, thus proving it’s better to expect the unexpected in the play-offs. The sheer number of away wins that occur is bordering on inexplicable and applies to the Championship, League One and League Two play-offs in recent seasons.

'It's always harder in sport to hold on to a lead than it is to gain it in the first place'

This weekend, most people were expecting Crystal Palace to establish some sort of advantage over a Bristol City team who had been struggling on the road in recent weeks. What happens? The Robins take the game to ‘play-off expert’ Neil Warnock’s team, winning the match 2-1. Will anyone really be surprised if the Eagles win by a similar scoreline on Tuesday at Ashton Gate, especially when you consider that Palace have recently landed wins at Stoke and Watford?

Speaking of the Hornets, and while their fans are probably resigned to Championship football next season, it’s not nailed-on that Hull will be contesting the Wembley final. Once again, we witnessed the power of the away team as the Tigers bagged a couple of early goals to win 2-0. While Phil Brown’s men might kick on and win comfortably on aggregate, it’s always harder in sport to hold on to a lead than it is to gain it in the first place. An early goal for the visitors at the KC Stadium will change the entire complexion of the match.

There’s also some good news for Southend fans making the journey to Doncaster on Friday night (ridiculous TV schedule by the way). Last season, three of the four semi-final results were away wins, while the same applied to the 2005-6 campaign. Barnsley were promoted, despite losing the first leg to Huddersfield, while Blackpool emulated their achievement a season later after winning at Oldham.