Louis Flower admits that facing Chelsea on Friday brings up mixed emotions.
The striker came to us from the Blues last summer, having joined them as an under-13.
We take on Chelsea in the first knockout phase of the Premier League 2 playoffs on Friday night, kick-off 7pm at Kingsmeadow.
“It’s a very weird one, but it’s something I want to embrace," Flower said. "I wanted to come here and be in this environment. I was at Chelsea from an early teenager, I did all my schooling there.
“A lot of the boys who will be involved for Chelsea I went to school with, I lived with them. It’s weird to come up against people who I played with a lot, argued with, had meals with. It’s tough, but I’ve spoken to a couple of them and it’s a friendly rivalry. You don’t want to lose to your mates - it’s the worst feeling in the world!
“They will be strong, but it’s a round of 16 game and the further you go the better it is. If you lose your season is done so we have to match them and try to be better than them.”
Louis – who has six goals and three assists in 16 Premier League 2 appearances for Albion – believes this year’s PL2 format has added a level of jeopardy.
“It's more exciting than a normal game - knockout matches give you that extra motivation.
“It’s life or death, fight or flight. If you have a bad game then chances are you’re out of the competition. They’ve done PL2 in an interesting way this year and I think it evens things out a bit. You might not have had a great start or finish to the regular season, but you have a chance to win something.
“There have been teams who come alive in the knockout stages like Porto in the Champions League in 2004. Every team should be wary of every other team and will want to take advantage.”