VETERAN keeper Dean Kiely is confident Tony Mowbray will not replace him with a younger model if West Bromwich Albion are promoted.
Kiely, 36, is still sore at the way he was treated by Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp last season just six months after joining the club from Charlton.
Redknapp rewarded Kiely for a succession of superb displays that helped keep Pompey in the Premiership by signing former England keeper David James.
Kiely said: "Obviously I was an experienced sticking plaster who could do a job at a very difficult time from January through to May. I did that job very, very well.
"The wool was pulled over my eyes a little and maybe I didn't see it coming."
Ironically, Kiely joined West Brom midway through the season because of a goalkeeping crisis at The Hawthorns caused by the sudden departure of Russell Hoult.
But Kiely is sure the similarities end there. In a thinly veiled attack on Redknapp, he said: "It doesn't matter what job you do - if somebody is honest, open, genuine and straightforward that's refreshing.
"When you see that in a manager you respond to it. I think in football there's a lot of political manoeuvrings and people, shall we say, are not straightforward and I don't like that.
"So obviously I'm drawn to the genuineness and opennesss of Tony Mowbray.
I truly believe that if you do all right by him and do the business out on the pitch he'll reward you by playing you in his team.
"I like his vision, what he wants to achieve and I want to be part of it.
I'd like to finish my career here - in the Premier League."
West Brom boss Mowbray has no worries about the state of the Wembley pitch heading into tomorrow's #60million Championship play-off final. The playing surface was cited as a contributory factor to the tedium of last weekend's FA Cup Final. And with the League Two and League One finals taking place in the 48 hours preceding the clash, concerns were voiced about the pitch.
But Mowbray, who took his side to Wembley for a secret tour on Wednesday, said: "I have seen the playing surface and it is all right. The grass was quite long but I had a chat with the groundsman and he said it would be cut shorter for the game.
"The preparation of the pitch is left with the groundsman, neither side has a say in that. But the big problem with Wembley is the repetition - it is a new stadium with a new playing surface, but there has already been quite a lot of football played on it.
"On top of that, by the time our game comes around on Monday it will be the third game in three days. But good players adapt to the circumstances and the pitch will be the same for both sides."
Albion, who beat Black Country neighbours Wolves in the semi-finals, will have enjoyed a 12-day break from action by the time referee Graham Poll blows for kick-off tomorrow. And Mowbray confessed by then the game would be long overdue.
"Twelve days is a long time to prepare for one match so our trip to Wembley in the week was counted as a day off for us really. Instead of training and training, the trip was a different type of diversion for the players who are all well aware of what is at stake - the game is a cup final for us but with the Premiership as a prize.
"It has also been billed as the most lucrative game in the history of football, but our preparations have been the same as for any other game.
"However, the fact is the money at stake is massive and I think there is probably a discussion to be had and points to be made about the gulf in money between the Premiership and the Championship.
"That debate is for another time though - my job, and the job of my players, is to win that football match."