Having jostled with Leeds and Burnley for an automatic promotion place throughout the vast majority of the campaign, Sheffield United ended the regular season with just two wins from their final seven matches to finish third in the Championship.
Bristol City, who themselves stuttered to get over the finish line after losing to Luton and Leeds before drawing with Preston, await the Blades in the play-off semi-finals on Monday night.
Chris Wilder's men go into the two-legged contest as favourites. A quick glance at Sheffield United's bench from their final fixture of the regular season, a 1-1 draw with Blackburn at Bramall Lane, goes quite some way to explaining why.
Rhian Brewster, a £23.5m signing, Tyrese Campbell and Kieffer Moore were all listed among the substitutes, as was former Everton central midfielder Tom Davies.
Another former Toffee, Tom Cannon, led the line while Ben Brereton Díaz did not even feature in the squad.
It's the type of firepower that at least 90% of Championship teams could only dream of having, and it has ensured Welshman Moore has had to be heavily patient at times this season.
The forward was a prominent figure from the outset after moving to South Yorkshire from Bournemouth last summer, but a calf injury in early November halted his progress and saw him miss the World Cup qualifying matches with Turkey and Iceland.
Goals against Plymouth and his former club Cardiff upon his return helped make his case for continued starts, but a groin injury ensured his debut campaign at Bramall Lane was going to be a challenging one personally.
The aforementioned wealth of attacking options - which also include the lethal Championship Player of the Season Gustavo Hamer - have seen Moore restricted to just two league starts since early January. He also has zero goals or assists to his name during this period.
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It's far from ideal for Craig Bellamy who has the somewhat rare misfortune of being a Wales manager without a top forward in his ranks.
For all of Wales' struggles in the doldrums prior to Euro 2016, they often had a Mark Hughes, an Ian Rush, Bellamy or Dean Saunders to lead the line.
Now a more balanced unit, they have been without a clinical number nine for some time - which is typified with Bellamy's use of players including Harry Wilson, David Brooks and Brennan Johnson in varying roles in forward positions.
It is also perhaps telling that Moore has started just two of the eight matches under Bellamy so far.
But in the 32-year-old, the Welsh boss knows exactly what he's getting.
His 13 goals since making his international debut under Ryan Giggs in 2019 place him 13th on the list of all-time record goal scorers for the Welsh men's side.
Given his uniqueness, even more so in the modern era, the towering frontman remains a hugely useful weapon.
Bellamy will certainly want as many players as possible featuring in the Premier League, and promotion for Moore and fellow Wales team-mates Adam Davies and Rhys Norrington-Davies would prove hugely beneficial in that regard.
Norrington-Davies appeared certain to become, at the very least, a key squad player for the national side, although abysmal luck with injuries have made him unable to add to his tally of 13 caps since his last outing in a 1-0 loss to Poland in September 2022.
As for Adam Davies, he made his first league start for the Blades since last August in the draw with Blackburn on Saturday, although he finds himself behind Karl Darlow and Danny Ward in the pecking order at international level.
It leaves all three with, in many respects, uncertain futures.
And yet, the trio could end their own mixed campaigns as top-flight players.
Both at 32 years of age, it could well represent one last crack at the big time for both Moore and Adam Davies while Norrington-Davies at 26 has more time on his hands.
But while all three could be sipping champagne at Wembley later in May, the months ahead could be even more crucial for their careers and for Wales boss Bellamy.
