Huddersfield Town meet Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium in the 2021-22 Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final for a place in Premier League.
Victory for Huddersfield would see the Terriers return to the Premier League after a three-year absence, whilst Nottingham Forest are looking to return to the top-flight after a 23-year absence.
Team News
Sorba Thomas could start for Huddersfield after he returned from a knee injury in the second-leg victory of their Play-Off semi-final against Luton.
Ryan Schofield (shoulder) and Alex Vallejo (knee) remain ruled out.
Nottingham Forest have no fresh injury concerns to report as Max Lowe (groin) and Lewis Grabban (hamstring) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- This is Huddersfield’s first meeting against Forest in the post-season Play-Offs stage.
- Nottingham Forest have lost three of their last five league meetings against Huddersfield (W2, L3).
- Carlos Corberan’s Terriers have conceded twice in two of their last three meetings against Forest in all competitions, of which they went on to lose on both occasions (L2).
- Huddersfield have won promotion in two of their five Play-Off campaigns this century.
- This is Forest’s first-ever Play-Off Final since the Play-Offs were introduced, having lost at the semi-final stage in their four previous appearances.
Prediction
Having shown excellent attacking intensity throughout their semi-final tie against Luton complete with great pressing and movement in counter-attacks, Huddersfield now really should believe that promotion is a possibility if they play like that at Wembley but more clinical.
Forest meanwhile will be well prepared for their first Play-Off Final at any level after being put through the grinder by Sheffield United in both legs of their semi-final, which will stand them in good stead if they turn up and play their quality attacking football and not the occasion.
The first goal will therefore be crucial because Huddersfield have the experience of these occasions compared to Forest, yet Steve Cooper has done a fabulous job to turn Forest from relegation contenders to promotion challengers so this could be a fearless contest.
I though am going to go for a Forest win if they can dig deep like they did in their FA Cup win against Huddersfield back in March, which would be a great ending to the best story of the domestic footballing season if Forest can complete the ultimate comeback and claim promotion.
Prediction: Huddersfield 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Result: Huddersfield 0-1 Nottingham Forest (Nottingham Forest win PROMOTION to Premier League!!)