Sheffield Wednesday are 1-0 down on aggregate in their play-off semi-final against Sunderland but the club's supporters will be hoping that they can overturn that deficit on Monday night.

Former player Chris Brunt is another man who will be hoping that the Owls book a place at Wembley after the second leg of their clash - and admitted to Yorkshire Live that he feels Wednesday could have gone up automatically before now if not for conceding some late goals.

Wednesday have been up and down this campaign but managed to turn it on at the right time in League One. They strung a series of good results together in the second half of the campaign - from the 1st of February to the middle of April they lost only twice - and it saw them soar up the table and into the play-offs.

 

 

They ended up finishing the campaign in fourth and will be desperate to bounce straight back into the second tier at the first time of asking via these play-offs.

Chris Brunt though feels that the side could have been up in the top two and achieved an automatic promotion even before now, revealing to Yorkshire Live that they 'probably could have gone up automatically' if not for some late lapses in concentration and conceding late goals.

The Owls would have been hoping that they could have snuck into the top two but instead, they will now have to bank on a good performance on Monday night to take them into the Wembley final and potentially on to the Championship.

Speaking about the side and their promotion hopes, Brunt - who played for the club between 2004 and 2007 - said: "They have drawn a lot of games and conceded a lot of late goals.

"I have kept seeing them being 1-0 up with five minutes to go and they have come away with a draw. It has happened quite a lot. I think they will be kicking themselves when they look at games like that.

"If they had not conceded goals in the last five minutes, they probably could have gone up automatically but it was not to be."

The Verdict

Chris Brunt has won plenty in his career and seen a few promotions, so knows exactly what it takes to help get a side over the line and into a division higher up the pyramid.

Brunt will be disappointed to see his old side have to try and secure promotion via the play-off route, especially after seeing them go 1-0 down on aggregate to Sunderland. However, there is still another 90 minutes left to play and plenty of time to come back and seal a place in the final.

Considering their form in the second half of the campaign, Darren Moore probably will be kicking himself that they have had to settle for a top six spot rather than the automatic places. They showed the kind of form and level that is required to finish in the top two - but less wins in the first half of the season and some dodgy draws have left them in fourth.

Still, a top six finish is not to be sniffed at - and it won't matter anyway if they end up sealing a promotion via the play-offs.