Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion already secured promotion to the Premier League after they finished first and second in the Championship and the final team to gain promotion is set to be decided later today. Huddersfield Town and Reading are set to battle it out in the Championship Play-off final later today at Wembley Stadium as they look to get back into the top flight of English football.
David Wagner, who used to work under Jurgen Klopp during their time at Borussia Dortmund, has worked wonders with Huddersfield since he took over. Prior to Wagner becoming manager of the Terriers, they never managed to finish higher than 16th in their previous four campaigns in the Championship.
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While Reading manager Jaap Stam has also been really impressive in his first stint as manager, the Dutchman, who was an assistant manager for a number of clubs in the Netherlands, guided Reading to a third-place finish. No one expected Reading to challenge for promotion this season after they managed a 19th and 17th place finish in their last two seasons.
Huddersfield will be hoping to get back into the top flight for the first time since 1972 and after being branded as the underdogs in the semi-finals against Sheffield Wednesday, Wagner is ready to prove his doubters wrong once again.
"I think everybody expected Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday in the final. There were a lot of statements before the semi-finals about momentum and about form. It is another example where we have proven that experience and what has happened in the past is irrelevant," BBC quoted Wagner as saying.
"After the 120 minutes against Sheffield Wednesday there were a lot of tired legs, but now after a training camp in Portugal and training on the grass here, everybody is ready to go."
As for the Reading fans, they will be looking to get to the Premier League after a four absence and after finishing third in the Championship they are the favourites to win the final at Wembley later today. The Royals go into this game with a strong winning momentum having won seven out of their final nine games. Stam said his players know what is at stake today and was hoping for the best possible result.
"You've always got ideals as a manager that you want to go for the best results or finish as high as you can, but to end up in the top 10 would have been a good season for us. It's a very big and important game, but the players know what they need to do," Stam said.
"Everyone's quite calm within the team and there's experienced players there. Times like this are probably easiest for a manager, as you don't need to say a lot as a manager as everybody knows what they need to do to win that game and everybody knows what's at stake."
Stam has a number of injuries to worry about ahead of this big final with Captain Paul McShane suspended. Winger Callum Harriott and forward Deniss Rakels remain sidelined but full-back Jordan Obita could return from an ankle injury.
Huddersfield on the other hand don't have as many injuries to worry about. Their top goal scorer Elias Kachunga is a big doubt for the final after he forced off in the second half of the semi-final second leg. Kasey Palmer could also make his return from a hamstring injury but Wagner will not want to risk him after four months out.
In the head-to-head record from the last five matches between the two, both teams have won two each and drawn one so it will be interesting to see how this match goes with £170 million on the line.
Where to watch
The Championship play-off final between Huddersfield Town and Reading is set to start at 3:00pm local time, 7:30pm IST and 10:00am EST.
TV and live streaming information
India: TV: Ten 1 HD, Ten 1
UK: TV: Sky Sports 1/HD. Live streaming: Sky Go
USA: TV: beIN Sports USA. Live Streaming: beIN Sports connect
Africa: TV: Super Sport 3. Live streaming: Super Sport live
Middle East: TV: beIN Sports Arabia. Live streaming: beIN Sports connect
