The Tigers were the big winners on a dramatic final day of the regular Championship campaign
Sammie Szmodics’ reaction as it dawned on him that Derby County were not making the play-offs(Image: Matt West/Shutterstock )
Hull City’s 2-1 win over Norwich City on a pulsating final day of the regular Championship season saw them claim the final play-off spot and set up a semi-final showdown with Millwall.
City‘s victory, courtesy of an Oli McBurnie brace to take his impressive tally to 17 for the season, was enough to leapfrog Wrexham who began the day in sixth, level on points with the Tigers, but could only draw 2-2 at home to Middlesbrough.
Derby County started the day in eighth, but knew a positive result and defeats for the two sides above them would be enough to see them into the top six. As it was, a 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield United ended their hopes.
The Red Dragons and the Rams saw their seasons end, while the Tigers know they have two games against Alex Neil’s Lions to secure a place in the play-off final at Wembley.
Here’s what both Wrexham and the Rams’ camps made of how it all played out…
Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson
“We’ve taken the fight to the wire, and it just wasn’t to be on the day. “I don’t think we could have asked the lads for much more than they gave us against a good side. To respond the way we did after going a goal down was a great effort.
“Of course, we’re disappointed. We’ve enjoyed the season so much that we didn’t want it to end, but it has. But overall, to finish seventh is a real achievement in itself at this level.
“This squad, as it stands, with a pre-season together, will be even stronger next year. Of course, we’ll always look to add to that to try and give ourselves an even better chance.
“It became a bit fragmented in pre-season and in the later stages of the transfer window just because of the people coming in and people going out. So we’ll be stronger as a unit for that and, of course, we know where we’d like to strengthen and what we need to improve on.
“We’ll do that, and we’ll make this squad as strong as we possibly can to mount a challenge next year. We’ll have a break now, and we’ll go again.”
Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds
“I am completely gutted by today’s result, but incredibly proud of our season. We’ve come a long way in five years, and this was the best result in our 150+ year history. More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of, Reds.”
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Derby County’s John Eustace
“I’m sitting here with immense pride at what we’ve done this year,” said Rams boss John Eustace. “The players have been outstanding, irrespective of the result today. The effort of the group and the progression we’ve made this season has been excellent.
“Hopefully, it’s really exciting times to be part of the football club moving forward. I think this was the highest league attendance (32,548) in the EFL (on Saturday), so it just shows the size of the club and the fan base (it wasn’t, the 33,750 at Hillsborough was).
“Where we want to go is obviously to get into the Premier League with the backing over the next two or three seasons. That’s why I came, and that’s what we want to do.
“It’s been a group effort to get to where we are now, but there’s still a hell of a lot of hard work ahead, for sure, and it’s really important that we don’t go backwards now.”
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