Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday face off in Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final, with promotion to the top flight the prize for the winner at Wembley.
Victory for the Tigers will ensure their immediate return to the Premier League, while Wednesday can get back for the first time since 2000.Route to Wembley
Hull finished fourth in the regular Sky Bet Championship standings, and were pitted against fifth-placed Derby County in their Play-Off Semi-Final.
Steve Bruce’s side roared into a 3-0 lead in the first leg at the iPro Stadium, as Abel Hernandez and Andy Robertson struck either side of Jason Shackell’s own goal.
In the second leg, things didn’t go quite as well. Johnny Russell netted for the Rams inside seven minutes, and Robertson’s own goal for the hosts made it 2-0 to Derby at half-time.
However, Hull weathered the second-half storm, and prevailed 3-2 on aggregate.
Sheffield Wednesday’s route to the national stadium was a little more straightforward - they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 over two legs, having ended the season sixth in the table.
Ross Wallace and Kieran Lee goals gave them a 2-0 advantage at Hillsborough, and after a 1-1 draw on the south coast three nights later, the Owls sealed a spot in the final.
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Play-Off history
Both of Saturday’s finalists have been promoted via the Play-Offs before, but only Hull have done it to reach the Premier League.
Back in 2008, a wonder strike from Dean Windass was enough to get past Bristol City, as the Tigers marched into the top flight for the first time in their 104-year history.
Wednesday’s solitary Play-Off Final triumph came in 2005, when they defeated Hartlepool United 4-2 after extra-time at the Millennium Stadium to earn promotion to the Championship.
Trailing 2-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Owls hit back to force an extra half an hour through Steve MacLean’s penalty, before Glenn Whelan and Drew Talbot sewed up the result against 10-man Pools.
Head-to-head
The Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final will be the 50th meeting between Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.
Wednesday have won the fixture 20 times to Hull’s 11, while there have also been 18 draws.
There have been a total of 135 goals in games between the two sides, with the Owls 82-53 to the good on aggregate.
This season, there’s been nothing to separate them. They drew 1-1 at Hillsborough back in October, while a goalless stalemate was played out in their last meeting in February.
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