By John Curtis, PA Sport

Welshman Matthew Stevens is confident he can win his first Embassy World Championship final - even though he accepts he will be made the underdog.

Stevens made sure of his place against either 1998 champion John Higgins or world number one Mark Williams in the best-of-33-frames final by defeating fans favourite Joe Swail 17-12.

Twenty-year-old Stevens overcame a stirring fightback by rank outsider Swail, who reduced his lead in the semi-final from 12-6 to 13-12 at one stage, before he recovered to reel off four frames in a row.

It means Stevens will have contested all three finals of snooker's unofficial 'triple crown' this season following his appearance in the Liverpool Victoria UK Championship and Benson and Hedges Masters.

He was runner-up in the UK to Williams but triumphed over Ken Doherty in the Benson final.

Stevens, who has still to win a ranking tournament, admitted: "The tension got to me. I was bang under pressure. I really wanted to get to the final and at 12-6 it looked like it was going to be plain sailing.

"But from then on Joe Swail made it very difficult - and I knew it would be hard after the way he had recovered against John Parrott from 12-8 down to win.

"He stuck in there and to be honest it felt like a 17-16 win rather than 17-12. Neither of us could get going and it was a case of sticking in there, taking the 20s and 30s and playing safe.

"It wasn't pretty to watch but I won some good frames in tight situations and those hurt opponents more than ones where you run away with things."

Stevens admitted: "I feel on a high and as if I could go straight back out and play again.

"Now I can relax a little bit because everyone is saying whoever wins out of Mark Williams and John Higgins will win the tournament.

"You've got John, who won the competition two years ago, and Mark, the world's number one. The pressure is off me a little bit now but I feel confident that I can go all the way.

"I have been playing well for the last fortnight. There is nothing wrong with my scoring and I was happy with the way I played under pressure in the last few frames against Joe Swail.

"My shot selection was good and I do feel confident. I have had a good season and hopefully I can finish it off by winning the world championship. It's going to be a great experience for me."

Swail, a 100-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, admitted he had "nothing left in the tank" and found it hard to get motivated for the final stages of his clash with Stevens.

He said: "I really felt it was going to be my year but for the first time in the fortnight I felt a bit drained. I was a bit like that yesterday but then got it back in the evening.

"I was up for it today but I could not get myself motivated at the important moment of the match.

"I don't know why that was but you cannot get pumped up all the time, especially when you have three or four-session matches. There was nothing left in the tank.

"Matthew also played very well. He was very solid in what he did and kept me out of the balls.

"But it has been a wonderful experience, a real boost to my career. I can work on my break-building and I didn't score as heavily as the top players.

"But that is the only thing I am worried about. I was happy with everything else, things like potting, bottle etc."