Nottingham Forest are preparing themselves to take on Huddersfield Town next week in the Championship play-off final as they look for promotion to the top flight. 

The reds were able to get the better of Sheffield United across two legs in the semi-final and despite the Blades fighting back in the second leg with a 2-1 win that saw the tie finish 3-3 on aggregate, a Brice Samba masterclass in the penalty shootout saw Forest progress to the final.

Oliver Norwood, Conor Hourihne and Morgan Gibbs-White all had penalties saved by Samba, securing a 3-2 shootout win for Forest to book their place in the final at Wembley against Huddersfield a week on Sunday.

It wasn't just his three penalty saves in the shootout which deserved praise though as he also made two brilliant saves during the game to keep out Iliman Ndiaye, and it seems his teammates are expecting more of the same in the final.

Forest midfielder Ryan Yates is backing his goalkeeper for another great display at Wembley as he told Nottinghamshire Live: "He literally is the same as what he is on the pitch. Just chilled out, full of confidence and always coming to meetings at the last minute! But that's just who he is.

"When all eyes are on him, that's when he produces those moments. He's a big-game performed. Hopefully Wembley will suit him. Brice has stepped up when it counted most. He's done that a lot.

"The save he made with his foot during the match was unbelievable. I bet it looked even better on TV. Fair play to him.

"My penalty record, in my short career, is awful, so I was fearing the worst! But we went through the routine, which I've never done before - all those minor, minor details which might give us a better chance of winning.

"We stuck to that. And luckily Bruce has produced and people like Cafu and Cookie [Steve Cook] were just so composed."

The Verdict:

Samba has had a good season anyway but he has really stepped up during the play-offs and his heroics on Tuesday night saw his side through to the play-offs.

It certainly seems as though the goalkeeper enjoys being on the big stage and can show up in the big games so he will no doubt be looking forward to the prospect of Wembley.

Forest will be hoping the game doesn't come down to penalties but they will also feel confident that they can rely on their goalkeeper's abilities to keep them out of trouble.