
Swansea City and Reading do battle at Wembley on Monday as they fight it out in the Championship play-off final.
The two sides meet with one target in mind – to make the Premier League.
After Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers secured the automatic promotion places, there is only one more spot up for grabs.
Victory on the day not only means a place in the top-flight next season, but a massive financial boost for the club in question.
Even if they are relegated straight away, parachute payments from the Premier League mean they shouldn’t be short of some money for the short-term at least.
Onto the match itself and it should be a very attractive game of football. Both teams play the game in the right way and deserve their place in this final.
Swansea made it through the semi-final stage against Nottingham Forest playing some excellent stuff. They drew the first leg 0-0 despite being down to ten men for the majority and were arguably the better side regardless.
Then, in the second-leg on home turf they proved too strong for Billy Davies’ men, securing a 3-1 victory which was rounded off by an excellent halfway line strike from Darren Pratley.
As for Reading, their progression to the final was perhaps been even more impressive. Despite drawing the first-leg at home 0-0, they went to Cardiff in the second game and ran home deserved 3-0 winners.
It was an excellent performance from them and one which gives them plenty of belief against Welsh opposition at Wembley.
Both teams are high on confidence, of that there is no doubt. Swansea finished 3rd in the Championship and are an excellent attacking team, while Reading enjoyed some inspired form in the second-half of the season and will be extremely hard to beat.
Overall, it should be a very close contest. In the end, it might come down to who can handle the pressure better in such a tense environment. Both managers will want their players to play their natural game, but this is easier said than done in a match that means so much.
Both teams will want their star players to perform on the day, with Swansea looking to tricky winger Scott Sinclair and Reading to prolific scorer Shane Long.
A fascinating afternoon at Wembley lies ahead.






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