Jack Ross admits Sunderland's promotion hopes will rest on a combination of bottle and fate if this weekend's play-off final against Charlton Athletic turns into a re-run of 1998.
The Black Cats take on the Addicks at Wembley on Sunday in the League One final, 21 years after the same sides met in the old First Division play-off final.
That game - regarded as one of the most exciting ever staged beneath the Twin Towers of the old Wembley - went the distance, with the sides locked at 4-4 after extra-time, before the Londoners ran out 7-6 winners after the penalty shootout had gone to sudden-death.
And Sunderland have experienced penalty shootout disappointment at Wembley as recently as two months ago when they lost 5-4 against Portsmouth in the final of the Checkatrade Trophy.
Ross is hoping his side can secure victory and promotion inside the 90 minutes this time round, but says his players have been practicing penalties just in case history repeats itself against Charlton.
However he says that ultimately penalty shootouts can be decided as much by good luck as they are by skill.
"Because we had the Checkatrade Trophy final, and because we had the Portsmouth play-off semi-final tie, we did some work on penalties prior to both those games and we've done so again this week," said Ross.
"It's more about repetition for the players and where they would look to put the ball rather than trying to replicate what they will face, because you can't replicate 80,000 people and the tension that creates.
"I know there are a lot of schools of thought about how you do it and how you prepare for it, but the truth is it comes down to a little bit of bottle and a little bit of fate in terms of what happens.
"We've been preparing for that as well as we can this week."
Mickey Gray was Sunderland's unlucky penalty taker against Charlton in 1998, with his spot-kick saved by Sasa Ilic.
And Lee Cattermole was the unfortunate one in March, who saw his penalty saved by Craig MacGillivray in the Checkatrade Trophy final.
.png?w=600)
