West Brom captain Chris Brunt admits time is running out for a dream Premier League swansong.
The 34-year-old is chasing his third promotion with the Baggies, and fourth of his career, this month.
Albion head to local rivals Aston Villa for their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final first leg on Saturday after finishing fourth.
Brunt has been at the Hawthorns for 12 years and knows he will not get many more chances for glory.
“I’d say so unless somebody gives me a new set of legs,” said the Northern Ireland international.
“I am not daft. I know time is running out for me in my career and if we could get promoted at West Brom, over my time here, it would be one of the things I’d look back on when I finish and be most proud of.
“Last season was a difficult season and his one was always going to be difficult given that in Portugal back in June we only had 10 or 12 first-team players.
“To get to this stage now and still have a chance of getting promoted, if we could do that it would be a fantastic achievement.
“There are ups and downs and let’s hope this season ends on a massive high.”
Darren Moore was sacked in March after automatic promotion slipped out of reach. Jimmy Shan was placed in temporary charge before taking over until the end of the season after the Baggies failed to tempt Alex Neil from Preston.
Albion finished four points ahead of Villa in the table, but ahead of the derby double-header Brunt knows victory is not guaranteed.
“Promotion would be a fantastic achievement for everyone involved. It’s not been an easy season by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.
“It would be one of the best feelings I’ve experienced in football.
“But it’s not as easy as that. You need to come out on top of Villa over two games and there’s no guarantees even then.
“You’ve got two weeks just waiting to play at Wembley and let’s hope we get the chance to do that but it’s difficult to jump that far ahead.”
