In the wake of Manchester United's greatest achievement -- winning the Premier, FA and Champions League Cup final in the same season -- cross-town cousins Manchester City will be hoping to get caught in the midst of the good fortunes flowing through England's third biggest city.

And while winning at Wembley tomorrow in the Second Division promotion play-off final against Gillingham would hardly compare with United's lofty accomplishments, nobody associated with the Maine Road club would think of calling it just another game.

"There is so much success happening with Manchester United at this time and obviously we're a club at its lowest point in Division Two, so it's important we have some success over here to keep the fans happy,'' said City's Bermudian striker Shawn Goater yesterday.

"When they go to the pubs and get into the `Man U, Man City' thing they can say, `yeah, we're on our way back at least'.'' Goater admits that United's success provides a motivating factor for City to do well, while there is also pressure in being compared with Britain's top club.

"We can't really be too concerned with what they're doing over there,'' Goater stressed.

"It's hard to block it out and get on with what we want to do because obviously every time we pick up the paper it's them and us in the paper. Some City fans were actually wearing Bayern Munich T-shirts, the hate is that strong.'' After missing out on automatic promotion, City have their last chance to bounce right back into the First Division.

Victory for City, the favourites, could signal a turnaround for the club as they begin their climb back to the top division. Defeat would mean the unthinkable...another season two divisions below their most heralded neighbours.

"In a sense this will set the tone for how my summer will be,'' said Goater, who is City's top scorer this season with 21 goals.

"I'll either be over the moon in terms of my break or devastated at thinking of another season in Division Two.'' The demand for tickets for tomorrow's final has been high all week with the two clubs bringing 73,500 fans between them to London for the match which will see Wembley filled to its 76,000 capacity. Even the 39,000 tickets allocated to City for their fans fell well below expectations.

Goater, one of only two City players who has played at Wembley before, will be making his second appearance in a final in three years, having helped Rotherham win the Auto Windscreens Shield final in 1996.

Actually the first time Goater stepped inside the famous stadium was on a tour with the Saltus football team in 1985 as a 15-year-old, having been invited on the trip by Saltus along with his Whitney schoolmates Dean Minors and Clay Smith.

The stadium was empty on that occasion and half full 11 years later when 37,000 watched Rotherham beat Shrewsbury as Goater became the first Bermudian to play at Wembley.

The visit tomorrow will take some beating as Bermuda's population and then some will pack into one of the world's most famous football stadiums to watch the match. The Auto Windscreens final won't even come close to comparing.

"It's been mayhem in regards to tickets,'' said Goater yesterday.

"At City we average 28,000 and at first had been allocated 34,000 tickets.

Then they gave us 37,000 and then 39,000 which was, quite clearly, still not enough. We could have taken another 10 or 15,000, easily.

"Gillingham, on the other hand, have gates of 7,000 and they were allocated something like 34,000. City supporters are a bit disappointed they got that many tickets but at the end of the day it equals the support for both teams.'' Added Goater: "I thought it would be a sellout, we were anticipating City getting something like 50,000 tickets and I'm quite sure we would have sold them all. We have support from all over England, up and down the country.'' The City players received three complimentary tickets each and could have bought up to 40 others.

"I only got 11 so other players obviously wanted my remaining tickets,'' explained Goater.

"We had to let the lady know by Monday how many tickets we would need and then it was only seven that I needed. Then I got several calls very late so I could have used up my allocation.'' City drew 0-0 at home to Gillingham and beat them 1-0 away in the two league meetings between the clubs this season. The final could be just as close.

"We feel that in ability we are far better than them, but it's going to take a lot more than just ability,'' said Goater. "It will take a lot of hard work, commitment on the day, hunger and a bit of lady luck as well.

"I'm sure they are going to be as hungry as us and make it very competitive, but we're all up for it and looking forward to it.

"It's always been my ambition to play a game and say `I'm playing in front of Bermuda's population or greater'. I will be achieving that come Sunday with 70-odd thousand.''