We deserve our place in final, says Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal

CARLOS CARVALHAL believes Sheffield Wednesday 'deserve' to be in the Championship play-off final while admitting nerves got to his side.
Sheffield Wednesday celebrate after reaching the Championship play-off final at Wembley with a 3-1 aggregate win over Brighton (Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire).Sheffield Wednesday celebrate after reaching the Championship play-off final at Wembley with a 3-1 aggregate win over Brighton (Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire).
Sheffield Wednesday celebrate after reaching the Championship play-off final at Wembley with a 3-1 aggregate win over Brighton (Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire).

The Owls are potentially 90 minutes from a Premier League return after holding off a defiant second-leg fightback from Brighton & Hove Albion.

Having arrived at the Amex Stadium 2-0 ahead, Wednesday saw their advantage cut in half after just 19 minutes by Lewis Dunk. It came amid an almighty onslaught from the Seagulls, who finished 15 points ahead of head coach Carvalhal’s men in the regular season.

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Ross Wallace, however, restored the two-goal advantage and Wednesday held out to book their place in the final.

For Brighton, it meant not winning promotion despite having lost just five league games in the regular season – Manchester United in 1905 being the previous club to suffer such an unfortunate fate.

Carvalhal said: “We didn’t play the game like we usually play, the players were a little nervous. But this game encapsulated our season.

“Brighton don’t deserve this after what they did over the season, they don’t deserve this moment. But we deserve it.

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“Let me give a to word to Brighton and their manager. They had a fantastic season, they fought until the last minute to get promotion. They deserve promotion.

“We have grown up together like a team, we played better and better.”

Wednesday are likely to face Hull City on May 28 as the Tigers lead Derby County 3-0 ahead of Tuesday night’s second leg.

Brighton boss Chris Hughton, meanwhile, is confident his “distraught” Brighton side will bounce back from their promotion heartbreak.

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The Seagulls missed out on going up automatically to the Premier League on goal difference on the final day of the season.

But the Seagulls boss, who had the possibly hollow consolation of being named the League Managers’ Association’s Championship manager of the year later on Monday night, said: “The fact we finished so far above is by the by.

“The disappointment is massive because we were so close to automatic promotion.

“At the moment it’s a distraught changing room. The fact it hurts so much means they put so much into it. They’ve got to use this feeling to go again next season.

“They’ll be fine. They’ll dust themselves down. It’s normal stuff. There is going to be a team in the play-off final who are going to lose and they will also have to pick themselves up.”