Coventry boss Mark Robins will be proud of his players whatever happens at Wembley after seeing them book a Sky Bet Championship play-off final with Luton.
Robins agreed a new four-year deal with the club he took over in 2017 on the eve of Wednesday night’s 1-0 semi-final, second-leg victory at Middlesbrough which kept alive their hopes of making it all the way from League Two to the Premier League.
A thrilled Robins said: “We’ve beaten Middlesbrough over two games to get to Wembley and the final, I’m really proud of the players regardless of what happens.
“They’ve all worked as hard as they possibly can, they all try their best every day, so for that, I’ll always be proud. That’s all you can do.
“Whatever happens next happens, but it won’t be for the want of trying, that’s for sure.”
Victory was sealed by the only goal of a tense 180-minute shoot-out when Gustavo Hamer fired into the top corner after City had pounced on a loose pass by Ryan Giles and Viktor Gyokeres had rounded keeper Zack Steffen.
Boro belatedly launched an all-out assault, during which substitute Matt Crooks headed home from an offside position and Cameron Archer stabbed over the crossbar, but the visitors, who have spent 22 long years outside the top division, held firm to extend their fairytale season.
Asked about Hamer’s contribution, Robins revealed he had undergone a painkilling injection before the game.
He said: “He was phenomenal. I’m surprised he didn’t faint – he had an injection in his knee before the game so he could play. I don’t know what was worse, whether it was the injury or the needle going in.
“He was brilliant. When Vik’s gone through and he’s taken it round the goalkeeper and it falls then to Gustavo, you just breathe out because he just does it every day.”
For Boro head coach Michael Carrick, an evening which promised so much ended in bitter disappointment, although he urged his players to learn from the experience.
Carrick said: “Hopefully it’s the start of something. That’s up to us to make the next step, as hard as it is right now. It’s a tough one to take, it’s a tough experience for some of the boys.
“Most of the time I’ve felt through my career in life in general the tough moments are the ones that you end up learning from and coming back stronger when you come through it, so as tough as it is now and horrible to go through – and we’ve got a lot of time to think about it over the summer – we’ve got to come back stronger.”
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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