Ashford boss Tommy Warrilow has urged his players to seize the moment in Monday night's play-off showdown at Hastings.

For some players, this will be the biggest game of their careers with a place in the Bostik South East promotion final at stake.

The importance isn't lost on Warrilow, a play-off winner himself during his time in charge of Tonbridge Angels.

He said: "It’s a cup game so there’s no coming back from it.

"It’s 1) not to panic whatever happens and 2) not to forget the moment and ‘I wish I’d done this or I wish I’d done that’.

"It’s the old saying about having no regrets. You’ve got one opportunity tonight to progress into a final and get a promotion.

"I’ve felt the loss and it’s one of the worst experiences you could think of it because it finishes on a midweek night and you feel empty.

"I’ve had the other side of it and we (Tonbridge) had two outstanding games; against Harrow Borough we went to extra time and no-one thought you’d get a better game than that but then on the Saturday we were 3-1 up, got pegged back to 3-3 and won 4-3 in the final at home against Lowestoft which was an even better game.

"I’ve experienced being in front, drawing, losing and winning so the most important thing is not to panic.

"Everyone knows what’s riding on the game so there’s no point exaggerating or going over the top.

"You tell them in black and white what it is but at the same time I’ll keep banging the drum on how we’ve got here and what we’ve done to get here and why we’re here, keep putting the belief in the boys because I don’t think any of those teams in the play-offs will want to play us.

"If they got asked to pick an opponent, I think they’d all miss us out and that’s the highest compliment I can pay the lads."

Ashford finished the regular season fourth, two points behind Hastings but with a slightly better goal-difference.

They lost the home game 2-0 on New Year's Day before drawing 2-2 at the Pilot Field just seven days ago.

Warrilow said: "They’re a good side. He (manager Chris Agutter) changes formations a few times, he’s got a big squad down there and they’re well-organised and young. They’ve brought Gary Elphick in, my old skipper at Tonbridge, to give them a bit of experience.

"It’s about having a bit of calmness and a sensible head. Everyone knows the importance of the game so it doesn’t need building up any more.

"What I don’t want to do is pile the pressure on the boys because all they’ve got to do is turn up and play how they’ve been playing and they’ll be fine."

Ashford supporters will travel to Sussex in numbers for a match which will go all the way to penalties if necessary.

"I love the play-offs," Warrilow said. "You keep your season alive for as long as possible.

"You’ve got make sure that when you get opportunities like this, you don’t take them for granted because it’s the work of a long time.

"I’ve had it before when you lose a play-off semi-final in midweek; it’s weird because you’re walking off the pitch and that’s it, you’re done. You’re not in Thursday, you’re not in Saturday, you’ve got to ring the lads and see what’s happening next year.

"We are going there in a positive mood, on the back of a 5-0 win (against Haywards Heath) and two great performances down at Hastings and against VCD.

"It looks good but we’ve got to make sure we get there tomorrow night and really turn up."

Kick-off is at 7.45pm with Horsham playing Haywards Heath in the other semi-final.

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