IF Middlesbrough can put the finishing touches to this season’s promotion push at Wembley this afternoon then a family of farmers could be celebrating with a slice of quiche rather than a Teesside parmo or bottle of beer.

You see, courtesy of George Friend, there will be a strong arm of what could be described as the Devon branch of the Boro supporters’ group all keeping everything crossed in the hope of seeing one of their own book a long-awaited return to the Premier League.

“There's quite a few people coming up - farmers taking the trip out of Devon to come to Wembley! They'll probably get lost on the tube or something, so won't make it for kick-off,” said Friend. “You won't be able to miss them. They're the ones wearing welly boots and flat caps! Tractors parked on Wembley way, that kind of thing!”

Born in Barnstaple, Friend was brought up on a farm surrounded by 300 acres and has been known to bring in some free-range eggs which his father, Andrew, has often brought up for him on his regular visits.

And when he is playing at Wembley today, he thinks that there will be some Middlesbrough fans watching on who could be treated to more than just a high intensity game of football which is regarded as the most lucrative in football.

“My dad's known to bring plenty of food to games, great big quiches and stuff like that,” said Friend. “Maybe if you're sat next to him you'll get something to eat, and if it goes to extra time and pens there'll still be plenty of food left to keep everyone going.

"I've got a big family so my mum, Christa, dad, brothers and cousins will all be there. Wembley's a bit closer than Boro for them to get to - mum and dad are very excited about it. They came and watched me when I played for Exeter at Wembley a few years back, but it wasn't full then, it should be full this time.”

More than 40,000 Middlesbrough fans are expected inside Wembley, which will be just short of the entire 42,000 crowd that witnessed Exeter win promotion by defeating Cambridge 1-0 in the Conference play-off in 2008.

That was an exciting occasion for Friend to be involved in, but for him to be potentially 90 minutes away from sealing his dream return to the Premier League clearly means a whole lot more as the kick-off approaches.

Friend feels like he has unfinished business at the top level. His only Premier League appearance arrived when Mick McCarthy named a weakened team at Manchester United in December 2009 and Wolves lost 3-0.

He said: “I'd like to call it my Premier League debut and hopefully there will be more. It was a great experience for me, I could have scored actually - it's the story of my career. We did alright for half an hour.

“We could have won but lost and the fans weren't too happy. In the end it was probably quite a shrewd move from Mick because the rested lads came back into the team and beat Burnley in their next game.

"This season has whetted the appetite for us all here. We've played Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City in the cups and enjoyed the experience. Arsenal we didn't play too well but we did alright in the others. It's not the same as the Premier League when you're in the cup but you get a taste and you want it on a regular basis.”

And it is the prospect of facing the likes of those world renowned teams which drives Friend on more than the fact that Middlesbrough will land a guaranteed £130m windfall by overcoming Norwich today and end six years in the Championship.

Friend said: "You don't really think about the money riding on the game, you think about your job and not letting your team-mates down as soon as the whistle goes.

“It's a cliche but it's true. You can't hide the fact there's a lot of money involved, and hopefully if and when we go up, there'll be a lot more money weighing on the games then, but we can't worry too much about that on Monday.”

After the twists and turns of the promotion race, though, the well-loved left-back is not banking on promotion just yet, even though he feels that in Aitor Karanka they have a head coach sure to have the Middlesbrough team well tuned and drilled for one of the biggest one-off games in the club’s history.

"He’s come in, changed the squad, brought in some Spanish players and other talented lads. He's made everything gel, people might have got nervous when they saw Spanish players coming in, but it's worked,” said Friend.

“He's got a real team unity and an ethos. It's all about the team with no individuals in our squad. We do have a bit of magic from the likes of Albert Adomah and Lee Tomlin as we saw the other in the semi-final but it's all based around a very strong core and a very strong team. I don't think we'd be going to Wembley if we'd not bought into it.”