Championship Play-Off final Preview

May 23, 2014
By: Deke Hardman

Saturday afternoon’s game at Wembley Stadium sees Derby County face Queens Park Rangers in the Championship Play-Off final.

Steve McClaren’s side finished third in the second tier with eighty-five points, eight shy of second place Burnley and seventeen off rivals Leicester City.

The East Midlands have been absent from the top flight since 2008, when they were relegated with a record low tally of points.

The Rams, who finished the season as top scorers in the Championship, finished the season unbeaten in eight games, a run with include wins home and away against Brighton and Hove Albion in the play-off semi-finals.

Craig Bryson is set to return to the Derby starting line-up after missing the second leg against Brighton with a back problem.

Top scorer Chirs Martin is priced at 6.0 (5/1) to open the scoring with Bet365, with Patrick Bamford an 8.0 (7/1) shot with the same firm.

Derby are favourites to win the match in 90 minutes, with 888 Sport offering the best price of 2.45 (16/11) while the same firm have QPR at 3.45 (27/11). The draw is a 3.3 (23/10) shot with Bet 365.

Harry Redknapp’s side, who were the pre-season favourites secure an immediate return to the Premier League, eventually had to settle for a fourth place finish and they needed extra time to get past Wigan Athletic in the play-off semi-finals.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Nico Kranjcar are both likely to be fit in time to feature, though Jermaine Jenas, Matty Phillips and Alejandro Faurlin miss out.

Charlie Austin is favourite to get the first goal of the game at 5.5 (9/2) with Bet 365, ahead of Bobby Zamora, who is an 8.5 (15/2) chance with the same firm.

A John Eustace goal was enough to secure all three points for McClaren’s men when the sides met at the iPro Stadium in February, while it was Redknapp’s side that came out on top 2-1 at Loftus Road in November.

Derby are understandably favourites for the tie largely due to their superior form, and you may be tempted to back them to win with both teams to score, as has been the case in six of their last eight matches.

That particular outcome is priced at 6.0 (5/1) with William Hill, while Coral offer 2.38 (11/8) for there to be three or more goals in the game.

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