Sunderland’s win over Coventry City has set up a play-off final against Sheffield United at Wembley

Chris Wilder has confirmed that he expects Femi Seriki and Ben Brereton Diaz back in his squad for the play-off final against Sunderland.

The pair were absent for the 6-0 aggregate win over Bristol City in the semi final, with Seriki picking up an injury on the final day of the regular campaign and Brereton Diaz suffering from a virus. Brereton Diaz was of course a January transfer target for Sunderland, but he opted to return to Bramall Lane where he had enjoyed a successful loan under Chris Wilder during the previous campaign.

Crystal Palace loanee Jesurun Rak-Sakyi made his return from the bench in the second leg on Monday night and so will be in contention to start at Wembley, with Wilder admitting that he would have a number of selection dilemmas for the game.

The Sheffield United boss said he'd be carefully managing training to avoid any further injuries.

"We've got to get the balance right," Wilder said. "We can't lose anybody through a training injury. We've got a good injury record at the moment, everybody fit and firing. We've got Femi [Seriki] back, and him and Ben Brereton Diaz will be available.

"Jes [Rak-Sakyi] was back for Monday's game, so it's going to be difficult. There are no shoo-ins. Everyone will try to second-guess the team but we've got to pick the right team to give us the best opportunity of getting out of the blocks at Wembley.

“We’ve got six or seven training sessions left [before the final], and they’ll fly,” Wilder added.

“It might feel long to everybody else but for the players, they’ve got to be physically at their peak.

“They’ve got to live like winners, train like winners and act like winners in these next 10 days. Everybody wants to win, but some players and some teams want to win a little bit more than others. And the details are in the preparation.”

Sheffield United's only expected absentees are midfielder Oli Arblaster and defender Rhys Norrington-Davies.

Régis Le Bris previews Sheffield United final

Speaking after Sunderland’s win over Coventry City, head coach Régis Le Bris outlined the challenge ahead for his players.

“Sheffield United were really good in their semi-final,” Le Bris said.

“I think they are a good team – well-organised with different threats. They have good experience, they were in the Premier League last season, so we know it will be another tough challenge. To be promoted at the end of the season, though, you have to break something or do something special. It will be tough, but we will have our ambition and our desire to win. We will need all the quality and character we have within the group, but our ambition is to win promotion.”

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