Albion midfielder David has never appeared in a play-off. Not officially, anyway.

But he has an idea of what the next few days will feel like as the Seagulls take on Crystal Palace.

David featured in a now-or-never last day showdown for his old club Osasuna in Spain in 2006.

It finished in celebrations as he scored the goal which sent the modest club from Pamplona into the Champions League for the first and still the only time in their history.

He is not quite sure. But he reckons the nerves, the buzz and the motivation will be very similar tomorrow and on Monday. And again on May 27 if the Seagulls see off their old foes to reach the final.

“Above all, it’s the motivation that is different,” he said of such high stakes encounters.

“You know exactly what you are playing for. Personally, these are the matches I really enjoy. It was the same as a play-off. We had to win to get into the Champions League, the stadium was packed.

“These games bring you really good memories.

“We won 2-1 that day and I scored the second goal. That’s the best memory of all, scoring.

“But the atmosphere there was that day, the fact we were playing Valencia who are a big club, everything together made it special.

“The crowd and team were united as one and we won.”

David already has an award to take back to Spain. His free-kick against Palace in March was voted Albion’s goal of the season, which is some feat given that Craig Mackail-Smith’s overhead kick at Burnley was probably expected to top the fans’ poll.

Maybe that shows what a goal against the old foes means to Albion fans.

Nerves will be on edge as the rivals clash in the play-offs but David reckons the two-leg format adds extra intrigue.

He said: “I’ve played a lot of games over two legs in the Spanish Cup and in Europe.

“It’s different. It’s an experience. It’s so key what you do at home.

“I think it’s really good to watch the tie and see two matches which are completely different.

“You have to keep the second leg in mind when you are playing the first.

“Even if you have a bad game you know there is still a chance for revenge. That’s the beauty of it.”

David’s big day against a Valencia side which included Vicente was a one-off. And he still remembers the goal. It was more like the volley he buried to beat Burnley than his set-piece special against Palace.

“A cross came in from the left from (Ludovic) Delporte,” he said.

“(Pierre) Webo flicked it on and I scored at the far post with an angled volley. It was a nice goal!”