Soccer

Championship Playoffs - Football: Huddersfield face Forest at Wembley

bet365 News Team Published: Sep 05 2022 17:22

We now know Huddersfield will face Nottm Forest in the Championship playoff final on 29th May after they overcame Luton and Sheff Utd, respectively.

Jordan Rhodes' 82nd-minute goal handed the Terriers a 2-1 aggregate win and booked their place at Wembley before Forest responded to losing in 90 minutes by edging out the Blades 3-2 on penalites.

The match on 29th May will mark Forest's first ever playoff final at any level while it will be the second time in five years that Huddersfield have played in the 'Richest Game in Football' having beaten Reading on spot-kicks in 2017.

Here is our updated team-by-team guide on those sides who made the Championship playoffs.

Huddersfield Town

Final Position: 3rd
Final Points Total: 82
Promotion odds: 6/4

The Terriers have mixed it in the Premier League as recently as the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns, but their two-year stay was ended when they finished bottom three years ago.

They've done remarkably well to rouse themselves to finish third this year after the previous two campaigns in the Championship saw them end up in 18th and 20th place respectively.

Under Carlos Corberan's astute leadership they have arguably punched above their weight this term, with the squad buying into his collective team spirit ethos.

Danny Ward's 14 league goals have undoubtedly helped, while Harry Toffolo, Josh Koroma and Danel Sinani, who have all weighed in with key goals, are amongst their most influential players.

Nottm Forest

Final Position: 4th
Final Points Total: 80
Promotion odds: 8/15

Forest have been outstanding since Steve Cooper took over in September and ended the campaign on a run of nine wins from their last 12 games.

Cooper has made them hard to beat, but also nurtured a more attacking style of play with the superb Brennan Johnson - who hit 16 league goals and claimed a joint division-high 10 assists during the regular season - and 12-goal Lewis Grabban often key.

The East Midlands club, who were proud founder members of the Premier League and who have a rich trophy history, have not been in the top-flight since 1999 and will be taking nothing for granted.

But this represents a great chance for the two-time European champions to get back amongst the elite, although it's the first time they've even made the playoffs since 2011 when they were losing semi-finalists, as they had been the previous year.

Johnson and Jack Colback were the scorers to set their side up nicely heading into the second round at the City Ground only for the Blades to match that 2-1 away win.

However, Cooper's side progressed as goalkeeper Brice Samba saved from Ollie Norwood, Conor Hourihane and Morgan Gibbs-White to book Forest's first Wembley visit in 30 years.

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Eliminated

Luton Town

Final Position: 6th
Final Points Total: 75

Town were one of the shock teams in the Championship this season, rising to the top six with some important wins over teams like Coventry City, Stoke City, Preston North End and fellow playoff hopefuls Forest over the course of the second half of the campaign.

They have never been in the Premier League, but were top-flight regulars in the 1980s and early 90s - with their dreaded plastic pitch - and just missed out on being founder members of the Prem when relegated from the old First Division in May 1992.

If they had gone up via the playoffs they would have become the first team to gain promotion to the Premier League having previously been in the non-league as they were in the National League as recently as 2014, so remarkable has their rise back up the pyramid been.

Sheff Utd

Final Position: 5th
Final Points Total: 75

United were only relegated from the Premier League last year and have bounced back well to make the playoffs under the careful guidance of Paul Heckingbottom.

The Blades have once again been helped by veteran Billy Sharp's goals in the Championship, he's hit 14 and also weighed in with seven assists, while the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Sander Berge and Jayden Bogle have also played their part.

United, who have an unwanted joint record of losing in three Championship playoff finals - with the most recent coming back in 2009 - lost their opener against Forest in a red-hot atmosphere at Bramall Lane but hit back by matching that 2-1 scoreline at the City Ground.

However, their failure from the spot means they now face another season in the Championship.