Championship play-off final, Aston Villa vs Fulham - LIVE: Latest reaction from Wembley
All the latest from Wembley Stadium
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Your support makes all the difference.Aston Villa and Fulham meet in the richest game in English football.
Wolves and Cardiff have already earned their place back in the Premier League Promised Land and now one of Villa or Fulham will join them. The two meet at Wembley Stadum with everything on the line and a £170m+ prize for the victor.
The game kicks off at 5pm as a nice starter to the Champions League final main course a little later on this evening.
We will have all the latest updates for you right here.
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Preview
What time does it start?
The game kicks off at 5pm at Wembley Stadium
Where can I watch it?
The match is live on Sky Sports Football or Sky Sports Main Event
What are they saying?
Steve Bruce: "Expectation is huge here but that's why I went for experience. I've thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of my 19 months here. Can we now top it off by getting where we want to be?"
Slavisa Jokanovic: "We're the youngest team. We must try to dominate the situation and put them under stress. We're probably the team with more energy. Experience in life is important but it's not everything - all of us can make mistakes."
Who is going to win?
Villa 12/5
Draw 21/10
Fulham 7/5
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Championship play-off final.
Aston Villa and Fulham meet at Wembley Stadum with everything on the line and a £170m+ prize for the victor.
The game kicks off at 5pm as a nice starter to the Champions League final main course a little later on this evening.
We will have all the latest updates for you right here.
How they got here
After a long and tough campaign, Fulham missed out on an automatic promotion place on the last day of the season to Cardiff. Failing to beat Birmingham at St Andrews meant that Slavisa Jokanovic's side must do something they have never done before: get promoted via the play offs.
After losing 1-0 to Derby in the first leg of their semi-final, Fulham turned the tie around at Craven Cottage through Ryan Sessegnon and Denis Odoi's second half goals.
Aston Villa lurked around the automatic spots in phases during the season but never looked capable of mounting a serious challenge on the top two.
A masterful game plan ensured they advanced past Middlesbrough without fuss, beating them 1-0 at the Riverside then holding on at Villa Park to book a place in this afternoon's Wembley final.
'It is the Championship play-off final most neutrals wanted.'
Sky Sports Presenter Scott Minto's EFL column: No one can argue they don’t deserve to be there but only one can now win the £170 million game
Whatever happens, Villa are finally in safe hands
Victory at Wembley would complete a healing process for a club that lay 19th in the Championship and felt quite broken when, in October 2016, Bruce became its fourth manager in 12 months
A message for Fulham from some of the club's former players. What a team this would be with all these players in their prime.
Aston Villa receive support from former players and some of Hollywood's finest
Steve Bruce says he is proud to have repaired Aston Villa's toxic relationship with the fans following a disasterous 2015-16 season which resulted in relegation from the Premier League.
Bruce, who took over from Roberto Di Matteo in October 2016, admits his surprise at the culture of the club.
"Let's be fair, Aston Villa went down with a whimper. There was no association with the players anymore, it had broken," said Bruce.
"I remember speaking to the technical director at the first game against Wolves and thought oh, oh, wow! Of course the culture of the club at the time was... I mean, we hadn't won away from home for 18 months. Some of the stats were just absolutely ridiculous.
"My initial thought, and (technical director) Steve Round agreed with me, was, 'we've got to stop the rot here and just keep the club in the Championship', would you believe.
"That's how low I thought it had got.
"That is why I went down the route of bringing in the likes of (Glenn) Whelan and (Ahmed) Elmohamady, John Terry of course, (Mile) Jedinak - all people who can handle playing for Aston Villa."
"A lot of work has gone in in 18 months. We've worked tirelessly and changed the squad round hugely and thankfully with winning a few games it's certainly starting to mend with the supporters.
"It certainly wasn't there when I arrived 19 months ago. There were certainly times when they wanted to rip my head off and rip the head off the players. But now, I do believe they have enjoyed seeing what we have got at the moment.
"People would bet on Villa"
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic says playing the "best football in the Championship" gives his side an advantage against Aston Villa.
"At the start of the season if someone bet on Villa against Fulham, people would bet on Villa," he said.
"After the last few months where we showed we can play better and the best football in the Championship we can be favourites but everything is history and the past.
"Now is not important who is favourite and who is not, we will see on the end."
Team News
Team news is just ten minutes away. Neither side arrive in North London with any serious injury concerns so we should expect two full strength sides.
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