Norwich City Women captain Sarah Quantrill said promotion would be a reward for the work done by many over several years to push the club forward.
The Canaries face Moneyfields in a play-off at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton-upon-Trent on Sunday, 3 May (13:00 ST) with a place in the third tier at stake.
They have finished second in Women's National League Division One South East for the past three years, but this year there is an extra promotion place available.
Quantrill, 35, began her career at Norwich, her local club, before spells at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Millwall, London Bees and Ipswich.
She returned two years ago and told BBC Radio Norfolk: "When I first started, there wasn't really a women's team to get into, so that's why I had to move away to these other teams.
"We've seen how hard people have worked before us to try and push the club on, and to hopefully be part of the team that finally gets over the line would be such an honour as well."
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Norwich finished as runners-up to Fulham, winning 18 of their 22 league games this season, one fewer victory than Moneyfields managed in Division One South West behind champions Swindon Town.
They have been given a dossier on the Moneyfields players and their likely tactics, but Quantrill said: "It's the same for both teams, your league form goes out the window. It's who performs better on the day, and hopefully that will be us – we're working so hard to make that be us.
"The preparation is pretty similar to that for any game. If you build it up too much that can't help with the nerves, so it's best to keep it simple and do what you normally do."
If the match ends in a draw, it will go straight to a penalty shootout, which would give Quantrill a crucial role in deciding the outcome – and there has been plenty of practice in the build-up.
"It's not just about saving them, it's about getting confidence in the girls taking them as well," she said.
"We've been doing it for a couple of weeks, so if it gets to that point we'll be ready for it."
Quantrill paid tribute to coach Andy Cook, who joined the club in 2024 and has helped develop it to the point where Norwich have awarded full professional contracts to some players.
"I've known him since university, he came in as my manager then, so I knew a bit about him," she said.
"When he first came in here, he was probably a bit of a shock to some of the girls who weren't used to the passion that he shows.
"Everyone has now embraced it and knows that if we're playing well, it makes him happy and we don't get a roasting at the end of the game.
"Sometimes you need that from a manager, to tell you when it's not good enough. Otherwise you just coast through a game thinking you're doing all right, and it helps get a reaction out of players as well."
Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed
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