Barnsley and Millwall lock horns in Sunday’s Sky Bet League 1 Play-Off Final, with promotion to the Sky Bet Championship the prize on offer for the Wembley winner.
Millwall are aiming for an immediate return to English football’s second tier following relegation last term, while Barnsley have spent an additional season in League 1 having suffered the drop in 2013/14.Route to Wembley
Millwall finished fourth in Sky Bet League 1 to take their place in the Play-Offs, just four points short of the automatic promotion spots.
The Lions took a huge step towards Wembley by running out 3-1 winners at Bradford City in the first leg of the Play-Off Semi-Final, and a 1-1 draw at The Den secured their Wembley berth.
As for Barnsley, they produced a remarkable second half of the campaign, climbing off the bottom of the table in December to take the final Play-Off place.
Paul Heckingbottom’s Tykes then put Walsall to the sword over the two semi-final legs, romping to a 6-1 aggregate victory and booking a return to the stadium where they lifted the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy just last month.
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Millwall suffered five play-off failures before they finally secured promotion through the end-of-season showpiece.
The jinx ended in 2010, when Paul Robinson’s goal was enough to see the Lions overcome Swindon Town and seal a place in the Championship.
Barnsley’s win over Walsall maintained their 100 per cent record in play-off semi-finals, but they have had mixed results from their two previous finals.
In 2000, the Tykes suffered defeat to Ipswich Town in the last club game at the old Wembley, but they fared better in 2006, climbing to the second tier after defeating Swansea City on penalties at the Millennium Stadium.
Head-to-head
It’s close, very close!
Before this season, the two clubs had met 52 times. Both sides had won 20 of those matches, with 12 draws thrown in for good measure.
However, it’s now advantage Barnsley.
An early-season meeting in the capital saw the Tykes come away from The Den with a 3-2 victory, and they made it a season double at the turn of the year — Sam Winnall and Adam Hammill goals securing a 2-1 success at Oakwell.
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