Championship play-offs: Who will win promotion to the Premier League?

The Championship play-offs offer huge rewards on and off the pitch, and four clubs will now do battle for a place in the Premier League.

Winning the play-offs can change a club’s fortunes for the better for years to come, whereas losing a play-off final can set a club back years.

Fulham, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Derby County all have Premier League pedigree. But who has what it takes to secure a return to the top flight?

Last season, Huddersfield were promoted with a negative goal difference, while in 2007 Derby went up via the play-offs, despite winning just six of their closing 15 regular season games.

On form, Fulham should be favourites to make it to Wembley and back into the Premier League. Prior to losing at Birmingham on the final day, which saw them miss out on to Cardiff for the second automatic promotion spot behind Wolves, Fulham had been unbeaten in 23 Championship games.

However, historically the teams who have missed out on promotion late in the season have not fared well in the play-offs. In the last 15 years, the race for promotion has gone down to the final day five times and the team that missed out only won the playoffs once when West Ham beat Blackpool in 2012.

Missing out on the automatic spots can be demoralising, but it at least offers a lifeline for the club to have another shot at reaching the Premier League.

Fulham are an excellent team, they play arguably the most attractive football in the division and have a squad containing players who look ready for the step up to the next level.

But there is a risk that it is now or never, as Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney would both likely leave Craven Cottage if the club failed to gain promotion. Ryan Fredericks would leave on a free and a plethora of key players, such as Aleksandar Mitrovic and Matt Targett, would go back to their parent clubs when their loans end.

And, while the final day of the regular season stat does not make for happy reading for Fulham, the team who finished third in the Championship has gone up four times in the past decade.

The teams in fourth and fifth – Aston Villa and Middlesbrough – both look ready-made for the post-season with their experienced squads and managers.

Steve Bruce’s side possess dressing-room leaders like John Terry and Glenn Whelan, and experience often trumps talent in such situations.

In 2012/13, Watford possessed some of the most talented players in the Championship brought in from Italy, but the experience of Kevin Phillips won the day for Crystal Palace as he kept his head to score the winning goal in extra time.

Alongside their experience, Villa have some of the most talented players in the division with Robert Snodgrass, Jack Grealish and Jonathan Kodjia, while Middlesbrough are in a very similar position.

Boro can call on the likes of Adama Traore, Britt Assombalonga and Patrick Bamford, in addition to the managerial nous of Tony Pulis, who has been a master of grinding out a result and keeping a clean sheet when it matters most over his career.

The league meetings between Villa and Boro have been tight this season, following a 0-0 draw at Villa Park and then Snodgrass scoring the only goal for Bruce’s troops at the Riverside.

The winner of that semi-final tie may fancy their chances of going through as the team finishing in either fourth or fifth has won half of the play-off finals in the past 10 years.

Derby secured the final play-off spot and will face a Fulham team they draw with and lost to this season. Teams which finish sixth usually struggle in the play-offs, with only Blackpool achieving promotion in the past 10 seasons from that position.

Just five wins in their last 19 games, along with humbling defeats by relegated duo Sunderland and Burton, hardly suggest Derby are in the form to trouble Fulham.

Slavisa Jokanovic’s Fulham appear to have the more favourable semi-final tie, but the mix of experience and talent at Villa and Boro indicates one of those two clubs will be playing Premier League football next season.