And so, after 45 intense games, months of blood, sweat and occasional tears, it has come down to this.

A £170 million shoot-out.

That is the monster prize for promotion to the Premier League awaiting Albion or Middlesbrough.

Who ever emerges with the spoils can expect to land close to £100 million in increased broadcasting payments next season.

Throw in minimum parachute payments of £70 million for finishing bottom, an extra £2 million for every place higher, and it adds up to the most lucrative, if not the biggest, match in Albion's history.

If you are searching for omens, they have fared well in the hat-trick of one-off games currently topping the heavyweight pile.

They reached the first tier for the only time so far with a 3-0 win in the North-East at Newcastle 37 years ago (don't you just love the symmetry).

Manchester United, don't forget, were held in the FA cup final four years later before running away with the replay and Albion did what they needed to in the biggest of them all 19 years ago by drawing in that Football League relegation decider at Hereford.

Biggest, because the consequences of failure on that day were potential oblivion.

Not on this day. The same prize could still eventually be won via an elongated route (let's gloss over the 1991 play-off final defeat against Notts County).

It need not come to that. There is no need to delve into the past for encouragement. The here and now will suffice.

Albion have to win down by the Riverside and yet they are in a no-lose situation.

Own up, who would have expected this opportunity 12 months ago, when they were also at Middlesbrough on the last day?

An uninspiring 0-0 draw confirmed 20th place (it would have been 21st, one above the relegation zone, if Rotherham had not fielded an ineligible player against them).

They were 38 points adrift of Boro, whose hopes of automatic promotion had been dashed by a 4-3 defeat at Fulham in their penultimate fixture.

Following last Friday's breathless 2-2 draw at Birmingham, the home supporters are sure to be consumed by a disturbing stench of deja vu.

Now put yourself in their shoes. They expected to be here, demanded it, after falling short in last year's play-off final against Chris Hughton's old club Norwich and investing lavishly in the quest for quick compensation.

A Canaries connection as well to haunt the Boro fanbase. The doubts keep on multiplying and there are a few more to gnaw away at them.

Middlesbrough are entitled to finish in the top two. Falling short again with the money they have spent would be failure.

Nine million pounds on Jordan Rhodes (that is nine Tomer Hemeds), £5 million on Stewart Downing (two-and-a-half Anthony Knockaerts).

Money cannot buy bottle. Boro appear to have lost theirs since conceding a last-gasp equaliser against Burnley (Albion know that feeling well).

They have shipped four points out of six against Ipswich and Birmingham, the type of teams in no man's land you would choose to play in the closing stages of the season.

Much is being made of Boro's impressive home record, 'Fortress Riverside'.

They have the best record in the Championship, 16 wins, four draws, just two defeats, 33 goals scored, a mere seven conceded. But they have not been playing Hughton's resilient team every week.

Albion have been beaten only two times out of 22 on their travels, at Rotherham in January and Cardiff in February.

They also have on their side a vastly experienced and phlegmatic manager. I would much rather have the man in the blue corner than the red to make a big call.

Boro boss Aitor Karanka has clearly been feeling the pressure. The quietly spoken Spaniard nearly quit in March after falling out with his players.

The question marks against Karanka resurfaced after his side were wrongly denied a goal disallowed for offside at Birmingham.

He had every right to feel aggrieved but to suggest there is some sort of conspiracy against his team on behalf of referees and the authorities is the sort of nonsense Hughton never spouts.

Ultimately, it will not be about Hughton or Karanka, it will be about the players they put their trust in, a mistake, a moment of quality.

There are no guarantees, although a cakewalk akin to the 3-0 trot into supremacy enjoyed by Alan Mullery's side a few miles way in 1979 appears implausible.

The class of 2015-16 either draw or do most of their winning, apart from the recent goal rush, by wafer-thin margins.

It has gone down to the last game, it could go down to the last kick the way the season has gone.

It could go wrong for Albion but they are capable, yet again, of getting the job done.

And if they don't, they will be far more sanguine about diverting into the play-offs than Middlesbrough.