Celtic's young midfielder Simon Ferry says he would be happy to stay with Swindon

But, given that one was a substitute appearance in a friendly and the other will decide who will be playing in the Championship next term, he says the experiences could not be more different.

After three seasons dogged by ankle injuries, the Celtic youth graduate was given an outing as Celtic trumped Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the inaugural Wembley Cup but, since then, both professionally and geographically, the Scottish youngster has gone a long way. Aware that his first-team appearances would be limited at Celtic, he collaborated with then manager Tony Mowbray to organise a loan spell at Swindon Town and it has proved worthwhile. Initially tiding him over until the turn of the year, the deal was extended and he will now play a pivotal role as the Robins take on Millwall in Saturday's League One Play-off Final.

"The game pre-season didn't really mean much and the stadium was half empty but I can't wait to go and play at Wembley this time," says the former Scotland under-19 international. "It will be close to a full house and it's an important game for both teams.It's a massive game and I am really, really looking forward to it. When you are younger you watch these big games on TV and see them playing at Wembley and it's going to be great for me to be able to go and do that.

"This will be the biggest game that I have been involved in and I'm really looking forward to it. We have done really well to get here and now we have one more game and I think we can go on and do it."

Win or not, after more than 40 first-team games for Swindon, the 22-year-old would like to extend his spell.

"This is the first season I have really felt like a proper football player because playing in front of 50 people every week is not really being a football player, so to come down here and play Saturday, Tuesday or whenever – and always in games where every point matters – is brilliant because, playing in the development squad at Celtic, it wasn't like that at all. That's one of the reasons I could never see myself going back to what it was like before."

A regular feast of competitive action is the lure and he says neither the outcome of next weekend's fixture nor the revelation of the Parkhead club's new manager is likely to feature largely in his thinking if he is offered the opportunity to decide where he will play his football next term. Still contracted to Celtic, he is preparing himself for a return to pre-season training in Glasgow but is hoping an agreement could be struck which would see him return to Swindon by the time the season kicks off.

"It doesn't really make a difference if that's in the Championship or still in League One. To be honest, if Swindon want to keep me then I'd be more than happy to stay, especially if the new Celtic manager comes in and tells me I just have to fight for the chance to get a game. If a manager like Danny Wilson wants to buy me then I would rather come back to Swindon and play for him and play somewhere I'm wanted."

After a blossoming career stalled for almost three seasons as ankle injuries curtailed his involvement, Ferry can't hide his desperation to make up for lost time. Others before him have bided their time on the periphery at Parkhead but he does not fancy that option, not now that he has sampled the alternative.

"It probably won't matter who the new manager is because I can't really see myself getting a chance at Celtic and I don't think it would matter who the new manager is because there are so many players ahead of me there so it would be a waste of time going back really."

That is something he will have to negotiate over the course of the close season but first he has to make the most of a final he almost prevented Swindon reaching. A freak own goal in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Charlton helped push the match into penalties and other than captain and fellow Scot Gordon Greer, who had been sent off, he was probably the most relieved player in the stadium when they edged through.

"Yeah, that goal... I didn't know what I was doing. I thought the goalie was going to come and get it but I stuck out my foot and it somehow ended up as an own goal. I thought: 'Did that just happen?'. I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe someone else had put it in but everybody was staring at me and I thought: 'Aw naw, it must have been me!' But these things happen and luckily for me the boys done really well and we still got through.

"I apologised but everyone said: 'Don't worry about it'. Nobody really cared because it was still half time and we knew we could still get the result and by full time no-one cared what the score was or how we had got there."

He hasn't watched the goal back but his gaffer has. "He said to me on Friday: 'By the way, that was f***ing awful,' but he was laughing when he said it. I haven't seen it though. To be honest, I don't know if I would be able to go out and play football again if they showed me it again!"

It's a brighter highlights package he is hoping for from the final. His parents are hoping to interrupt their holiday in Spain to take in the final and around a dozen of his pals will make the journey down from Dundee. Provided they sober up in time.

"I made it back up to Dundee during the week and the place was buzzing. My mates are Dundee United fans so they are happy. They have been out all weekend, in fact some of them have been out all week! They are enjoying themselves too much just now."

Ferry just hopes he has reason to join in the partying next weekend.