Aston Villa vs Fulham. Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs Final.
Wembley StadiumAttendance85,243.
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 4pm on Saturday
Wednesday 13 May 2020 16:07, UK
Fulham face Aston Villa in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley with a place in the Premier League as the prize for the winner.
Ahead of the massive encounter, which is live on Sky Sports Football from 4pm on Saturday, we provide you with all the team news, stats, key questions, manager interviews and predictions here...
Aston Villa defender Ahmed Elmohamady is making good progress in his recovery from injury and stands a good chance of playing. The 30-year-old defender was absent for the second leg of the semi-final at home to Middlesbrough last week after suffering a hamstring injury in the first game at the Riverside and there were fears he could also miss the showpiece at the national stadium.
However, things are looking much more positive after the Egyptian resumed training this week and he will be put through his paces again on Friday. If Elmohamady does not make it then James Bree is likely to fill in, as he did against Boro for the goalless second leg at Villa Park which clinched Villa's passage to the final.
Fulham are at full strength as they aim to end a four-year absence from the Premier League. The Cottagers have reported no problems after they beat Derby over two legs in the early part of last week.
Sheyi Ojo could be involved in the squad after missing the last seven games due to injury, though he is unlikely to start. Jokanovic replaced Floyd Ayite with Aboubakar Kamara for the second leg against the Rams and he must again choose between the two at Wembley.
Fulham are featuring in their first play-off final, having previously lost in the semi-finals in 1988/89 (third-tier), 1997/98 (third-tier) and 2016/17 (second-tier), while Aston Villa have reached the final in their first play-off campaign.
Steve Bruce is set to manage in his third play-off final - he has been promoted in both of his previous two, progressing on penalties in 2001-02 as Birmingham manager against Norwich and beating Sheffield Wednesday with Hull in 2015-16.
Indeed, he's the third manager to manage in three play-off finals in the second tier, after Brian Little (three finals between 1991-92 and 1993-94) and Ian Holloway (2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13).
Bruce has won four promotions to the top-flight (2001-02, 2006-07, 2012-13 and 2015-16), a joint-record with Neil Warnock, who achieved his fourth this season with Cardiff.
"It seems easy to say but the price of failure is huge for both teams," said Andy Hinchcliffe. "You can only imagine what will happen to each squad if they don't get up this season as both could lose a lot of key talent.
"For Fulham, the likes of Tom Cairney, Ryan Sessegnon and Ryan Fredericks could all go while Aleksandar Mitrovic and Matt Targett have only been on loan, and that's half a team right there. The same is true for Aston Villa with their loan players. Their squad is also getting older and you have to wonder if John Terry will stay for another season in the Championship."
The 2018 Sky Bet Championship play-off final is set to produce an intriguing encounter between serial Wembley winner John Terry and Fulham's in-form Serb Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The decorated 37-year-old defender has made 836 appearances for club and country and won 15 major trophies, lifting five major Cups at Wembley as Chelsea captain. Terry will need to call upon all his experience to shut out Mitrovic who was named Sky Bet Championship Player of the month for March and April.
It all boils down to 90 minutes under the Wembley arch as the Championship season comes to an end on Saturday. Fulham face Aston Villa in the play-off final to determine who joins Wolves and Cardiff in the Premier League next season.
WhoScored.com determine a combined Fulham and Aston Villa XI using their unique rating system to whet the appetite ahead of Saturday's showpiece…
Steve Bruce: "I won't sit here and say that I'm not going to feel some butterflies on the day but, like everything in life, if you've already experienced something then you know how to handle it better.
"Make no mistake about it, though, however many times you've done it it's still a wonderful occasion and the reason you're in football is for days like this. I've said many times in big games like this you can smell the hot dogs a little bit, that's what Archie Knox used to say all those years ago and nothing has changed.
"Hopefully we can put a smile back on the faces of Aston Villa fans for a change because for five or six years it's been pretty desperate at times. Let's hope it's our turn again."
Slavisa Jokanovic: "It's a special game, but on the other hand we must understand it is only one game," he told Sky Sports. "We must try to play, perform and show our quality, to show we are focused and concentrated to show we are a good team. We must play the game, we must not be scared. In football there are different results but we are thinking about only one.
"We are more experienced, we played in the play-offs last season and knew more or less what we were going to find. We are going to have an opportunity to play the most important game in the last few years for us, we know how we are going to find it and at the end, what we want is to win."
This should be a fascinating encounter at Wembley. Fulham play the better football but they are coming against a side in Aston Villa who will be set up well to contain them.
These games are so often separated by the odd goal. You would not back against John Terry, with all his Wembley experience, to pop up with a header from a corner or a free-kick to win it.
David Prutton predicts: Aston Villa to win 1-0 and John Terry to score (195/1 with Sky Bet)
