Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder is convinced his side are ready to break the club’s play-off curse and seal Premier League promotion.The Blades fought back in their final Sky Bet Championship match of the regular season to draw 1-1 at home against Blackburn, who fell short in their own bid to snatch a top-six finish.Yuki Ohashi gave Blackburn a second-half lead, which briefly lifted them

New boss Alan Sheehan said Swansea are facing a “big window” this summer after losing club greats Joe Allen and Kyle Naughton.Wales midfielder Allen, 35, played the final game of his distinguished career as Swansea closed their Sky Bet Championship campaign with a 3-3 home draw against Oxford.Swansea led three times through Eom Ji-sung, Ronald and Liam Cullen, but Oxford revived on eac

Liam Manning experienced “every emotion imaginable” as his Bristol City team roared back from two goals down to clinch a place in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs in front of a sellout Ashton Gate crowd.Preston had looked set to avoid relegation with a win when Emil Riis headed home a 28th-minute corner from Robbie Brady and Milutin Osmajic doubled the advantage on the hour, breaking

Mark Robins admitted his time as Stoke manager has been “one of the toughest” of his career after a 0-0 draw at Derby kept both clubs in the Championship.Robins described the match as “rubbish” but knew the important thing was avoiding dropping into League One.Robins said: “The game was rubbish but we both ended up getting what we needed which is the most important th

Aaron Ramsey was keeping his options open after Cardiff turned in a spirited performance before losing 4-2 at Norwich in their final Championship clash of the season.The already-relegated Bluebirds were 3-0 behind and down to 10 men after just 23 minutes but battled after that to come away with their pride intact.It was Ramsey’s third game as interim head coach and the Welsh international is

Burnley manager Scott Parker insisted missing out on the Sky Bet Championship title on goal difference would do nothing to dent his pride after the Clarets ended their record-breaking promotion season with a 3-1 win over Millwall.Burnley fell behind to an early Mihailo Ivanovic goal but Josh Brownhill soon cancelled that out and added a late third after Jaidon Anthony put Burnley in front.It looke

Hull manager Ruben Selles was determined to enjoy the moment after seeing his side narrowly cling onto their Championship status with a 1-1 final-day draw at Portsmouth.The Tigers stayed up ahead of Luton on goal difference to avoid dropping into the third tier for the first time in four years.Matt Crooks’ 18th-minute opener looked to have set Hull on course for the victory that would have g

Regis Le Bris believes his Sunderland players still possess the attacking quality to deliver promotion to the Premier League despite heading into the play-offs on the back of five successive defeats.The Black Cats, whose earlier season form had secured fourth spot in the Sky Bet Championship at the start of April, will play Coventry in the two-legged play-off semi-final, with the first game taking

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said his side will keep on fighting for Champions League qualification after boosting their chances with a 1-0 win over Fulham.Villa, who made the quarter-finals of this season’s competition, are still in the hunt to finish in the Premier League top five which will see them back among Europe’s elite next term.Youri Tielemans’ 12th-minute header was eno

Frank Lampard praised all of his Coventry players after a brace from Jack Rudoni sealed a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough and a place in the Championship play-offs.The Sky Blues will now face stuttering Sunderland over two legs – a phenomenal effort given that Lampard’s team were struggling in 17th when he took over as boss from Mark Robins before Christmas.Lampard said: “I loved it t