Jonté Smith and his Kemi Kings team-mates will be looking to clear the final hurdle in their push for promotion when they face the Kakkonen West champions VIFK in the play-offs.

Kings, who defended their Kakkonen North title this season, will hope their home form holds up so as to offset the psychological advantage their opponents have of playing the second leg in front of their own fans.

In the lead-up to Sunday’s match, Smith has urged his team-mates not to take anything for granted.

“Our opponents are league champions in their respective area, so there’s no room for underestimating them,” Smith said.

“Our manager and scouts have been to see them play several times, so we have a lot of knowledge of them and I’m sure they have a lot of knowledge of us.”

Kings came up short in their push for promotion last season after losing 2-0 on aggregate to HIFK in the play-offs, but Smith is optimistic that they can go one better this time around.

“Everyone wants to win the play-offs and we have to go into the first game full of confidence and believe in the way we play,” he said. “I’ve seen more determination on the faces of our players since winning the league.”

Smith was the top scorer in the Kakkonen North, with 23 goals in 25 appearances, including hat-tricks against Gamlakarleby, Jakobstads and PK-37.

“Finishing top scorer and winning the league are great accolades to add to the collection,” Smith said. “But getting promoted is the one that means the most to me.”

A Kings second string suffered their first league loss in nearly three months in their final league match of the season at the weekend.

With all of the team’s regular starters rested for the play-off first leg, Kings lost 3-1 away to runners-up YPA.

“None of the regular starters played against YPA, only the youth team and a few players who needed 90 minutes,” Smith said.

Smith joined Kings initially on loan from Crawley Town, of England’s Sky Bet League One, in March before signing a deal that has kept him in Finland until the end of the season.