Head coach Sabri Lamouchi wants Nottingham Forest to prove they are deserving of a play-off place in their final game of the season.
The below-par Reds missed a chance to guarantee a top six finish on Sunday as they were beaten by relegation-threatened Barnsley.
It means there is now a three-way shootout for fifth and sixth spot in the Championship on Wednesday night, with Forest, Cardiff City and Swansea City all in the running.
A point at home to Stoke City would do for Lamouchi’s men - and after a poor performance at Oakwell, he is eager for his players to show they are worthy of still being in the promotion mix.
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“I know my players deserve to play in the play-offs. But to say that is not enough, we need to show more than that,” he said.
“We need to be more concrete, more pragmatic and more clever.
“We can say three weeks ago we can save the play-offs. But our reality is we need to keep our feet on the floor and be realistic.
“We need to fight until the end. We need to suffer until the end. And we will see what happens.
“My players want to play the play-offs and we will do everything for that. It will be difficult and tough.
“But, do it. Dream it, do it.”
A scrambled injury-time winner denied the Reds the result they needed at the weekend, on an afternoon when they were far from their best.
Lamouchi accepts improvement will be needed when the Potters, who have already secured their safety, visit the City Ground.
“Stoke are a fantastic team with good organisation and they have had a good result (survival), so they will be very free. They will come and try to play and try to win,” he said.
“We need to recover and rest, ready to play a clever game.
“Sometimes we didn’t play clever (against Barnsley). We didn’t play well. It was not enough for the points.
“We can talk about some players not being there, but I never complain about players being out or refereeing decisions. My job is to find a solution.
“I put what I think is the best team out. Of course, afterwards, it was not a great performance. It was not enough to secure the play-offs, but we have a final to play.
“The players are down, but I told them, ‘I prefer to be in my position than our opponents’’.
“It’s a game for men. It’s a final. We need minimum one point. We need to play clever.
“And we will try to do it.”
