Yorkshire rivals focus on hitting their Wembley target

A 4-1 victory at champions Wigan Athletic was enough to pip Scunthorpe United to sixth place in League One and set up a double-header against Walsall.

The first leg will be at Oakwell on Saturday and the victors will meet Bradford City or Millwall in the May 29 final. The Bantams, 2-0 winners against Chesterfield yesterday, host the Londoners on Sunday lunchtime.

Barnsley’s caretaker head coach Heckingbottom said: “That performance was my favourite (of the season), definitely. Not just the result and the occasion but the preparations we did and the way the lads carried certain things out.

“We have to take confidence from beating a team like Wigan. It can give us momentum to go into the play-offs. This was a big game, there were three of us chasing that last spot.

“There is a big hurdle ahead of us in Walsall, who have been up there all season. But we have to take confidence from this. Now, we have ticked one box and we have to try and do another to get into the final.”

Bradford missed out on fourth – and home advantage in the second leg – thanks to Millwall’s stoppage time winner at Gillingham.

But manager Phil Parkinson said: “It hasn’t taken the edge off what has been a terrific day for us and we cannot wait for the play-offs now.”

The Championship had concluded on Saturday and it was Middlesbrough celebrating at the final whistle after pipping Brighton & Hove Albion to automatic promotion.

A 1-1 draw was enough to clinch second place behind champions Burnley and earn the club a £170m windfall to go with top-flight status after a seven-year absence.

Head coach Aitor Karanka said: “When I came here, I said we are a Premier League club and we are going to work hard to stay in there now. We have good examples like Watford and Bournemouth.

“There are just 20 privileged people (managers) who can be in the Premier League and I am going to be one of them and after (just) two-and-a-half years experience, it is going to be amazing.

“In this league, you have to play to the last second to get promoted against a side with 10 players. But I never doubted my job or the players and I was stronger every single day and the players gave me that energy.”

Elsewhere, Hull City gave themselves a timely boost ahead of the play-offs with a resounding 5-1 win at home to Rotherham United to clinch home advantage in the second leg against Derby County.

Ahead of kick-off, Tigers vice chairman Ehab Allam used the match-day programme to defend the club’s new membership scheme, which will see season tickets replaced by a monthly payment model that includes no concessions.

Supporters, though, once again protested against the plan by holding red cards aloft. Manager Steve Bruce has repeatedly called for a united front heading into the play-offs and the fans provided that once the action was under way on Saturday.

Looking ahead to the play-offs, the Tigers’ chief said: “I don’t think there is a favourite. But the performance against Rotherham stands us in good stead.

“We have had nothing to play for in recent weeks. I spoke to Neil (Warnock) beforehand and he said as soon as Rotherham were safe, the human brain unfortunately switches off because they have done their jobs. They are on their holidays.

“Certainly, my lot were in the deckchairs at Bolton (the previous week when Hull lost 1-0). But against Rotherham, I felt we looked a very good team. If we perform like that, it will take some team to stop us.”

Also looking forward to the play-offs are Sheffield Wednesday, beaten 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers as head coach Carlos Carvalhal made 10 changes.

The Portuguese commented: “Brighton will be a strong opponent, like all of the teams in the play-offs.

“We have drawn against them both times this season in balanced games and we understand we are playing a top team, but I think we are a better team now than in the past.

“We have a positive environment. We will be underdogs but that can be a positive for us.”