Conor Hourihane has admitted he and his Aston Villa teammates were glad to avoid Leeds United in the play-offs last year.
The Villans earned promotion to the Premier League in 2018/19 by beating Derby County in the play-off final.
Hourihane and his side overcame West Brom to book their Wembley date.
As for the Rams, they knocked out Leeds over two fiercely-contested legs at Pride Park and Elland Road.
Republic of Ireland midfielder Hourihane has now revealed that Dean Smith's side were praying they wouldn't have to face the Whites at the national stadium.
The two sides had played each other in the league just a few weeks before the play-offs, with the match mostly remembered for the events preceeding Villa's goal.
United had opted to play on following an injury to a Villa player and it ended with Mateusz Klich scoring - prompting a backlash from the Villa players which ended with one of them being sent off.
Whites' chief Marcelo Bielsa then ordered his side to let Villa score, which they duly did, and it ended in a stalemate.
Recalling that incident, Hourihane admits he was happy that his team didn't have to come up against Leeds again at Wembley last season.
"Obviously we played before Derby and Leeds and without sounding too disrespectful to them, as soon as Derby won that semi-final we were chuffed," Hourihane told the EFL Going Up Going Down podcast.
"We were delighted, because Leeds are a really good side.
"They play with energy, with intensity. They pass the ball about really well.
"A couple of months before (play-offs) we had that big scrap of a game where the big scenario happened where they let us score a goal.
"So there would have been a huge amount of media going into that game and people talking about the previous game.
"So when Derby won that game (semi-final), I was surprised because I didn't expect them to win it.
"We fancied ourselves going into that game. We never thought that we would lose."
Villa beat Derby 2-1 in the final to secure a return to the Premier League, where they currently reside in the relegation places.
