Fulham defender Denis Odoi is desperate to prove his doubters wrong once more by beating Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final this Saturday.
The 29-year-old scored the second goal against Derby to confirm Fulham’s placed in the final last week.
Although scoring arguably one of the most important goals in Fulham’s history Odoi wasn’t always expected to reach the top.
“I was just a normal football player, I was never the best in my team,” said Odoi.
“If we go up, not a lot of people would’ve expected me to play at that level or expected my career to go as it’s going right now.”
Fulham missed out on automatic promotion by two points after losing to Birmingham on the final day of the season.
They were also beaten 2-1 over the two legs by Reading at the semi-final stage last year.
Although eager to reach the Premier League, Odoi acknowledges that with success there may also come interest in some of the team from bigger clubs.
Odoi added: “With great results and achievements with a club like Fulham, you need to accept there are some even bigger teams interested in our players.
“Like Ryan Sessegnon – you can’t expect him to be here for another 10 years, that’s the way.
“It’s something you have to accept and you hope to keep those players for as long as possible but that’s just the way it goes.”
After a four-year absence, Odoi is hoping the south London club doesn’t make the same mistake.
Odoi said: “Since I was young I was watching Match of the Day and then coming to England to play and now the possibility to go to the Premier League, that would be a huge accomplishment.”
