Former Oxford United manager Jim Smith believes the greatest quality of the current U’s side is their workrate.

But he says it will be vital for the players at Wembley that they settle quickly.

Smith, who led QPR out at Wembley against Oxford United in the 1986 Milk Cup final, has been back to the national stadium countless times since then.

He said: “It’s a stadium where so many games turn up shocks.

“When Manchester United go there, they generally win, but even QPR-Oxford was a shock, not to me, but to the wider public.

“Wembley’s the kind of place where, in a one-off game, so much of the time it’s the team that settles down on the day and plays that comes through to win.

“Players freezing is your biggest problem as a manager, especially early on when some don’t settle and the other team does. If you can see it out early on, don’t give anything away, then you can get stronger.”

Smith was within minutes of reaching the play-off final at Wembley with Oxford in 2007 when the U’s led in the penalty shoot-out at the end of their semi-final against Exeter.

He stepped down as manager six months later, but is still around to offer advice to Kelvin Thomas and Chris Wilder when needed.

“What Chris has done is fantastic, and justifies Kelvin’s faith in him,” said the Bald Eagle.

“He had a rocky spell, but we all do. It came at a difficult time, in terms of automatic (promotion), but he steadied the ship, kept his head, and the players kept theirs.

“All teams have a bad spell. Though saying that, when I was here there was Dagenham. Like Stevenage this season, they didn’t have a bad spell! They kept on winning games.

“If you look . . . Dagenham and Morecambe, the two that knocked us out (in 2007) are in the play-offs to go up into League One. It just shows what you can do.”

Smith has been impressed with the team Wilder has assembled.

“The main quality for me is their honesty and workrate,” he said.

“They don’t thrill you too often, but never stop working, are very well organised – Chris has done a fantastic job with his coaching – and they never give up.

“And they’ve got players like Matt Green and James Constable who score goals and never stop working.

“Martin (Foyle) and the board have done a great job at York, they’ve been to Wembley in the Trophy final.

“They’re no mugs, know what it’s all about and will make it difficult, but I genuinely believe we’ll have the forward edge on them.

“The thrust of our front three will give them problems.”