Boro boss 'very happy' to be in Championship final
Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg admitted it has been a "crazy" week for the club, but is confident it will be ready for the Championship play-off final against Hull City.
The Tigers were supposed to be facing Southampton – which beat Boro 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals – but the Saints were on Wednesday expelled by the English Football League (EFL) over spying and will receive a four-point deduction next season.
Southampton's appeal against the decision was dismissed on Thursday.
As such, Middlesbrough was reinstated to the final, which will still be played this Sunday (AEST, NZST) at Wembley Stadium.
The pre-match talk has naturally been dominated by 'spy-gate', but Middlesbrough is bidding to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016-2017.
"It's been a crazy time, back and forth with a lot of emotions, from losing the game, to being involved and trying to keep your head in the game for what may happen. I'm very happy to be here," he said.
"The punishment is not for me to decide, and I was never talking about punishment when I talked about it, either. I talked about my emotions.
"Since I arrived here, I've tried to be honest, tried to be open, not using 'no comment' or being like that. I've tried to be open with my emotions, and it was never about anything other than that.
"I had nothing to do with the decision or punishment or what is right or wrong. I just talked about my emotions through the situation.
"It's been weird for a lot of different teams and supporters. It's not fair to them, but it also comes from the decision they have made."
Hull, meanwhile, is also looking to gain promotion to the top-flight for the first time in nine years.
It has won both of their Championship play-off finals, beating Bristol City in 2008 and Sheffield Wednesday in 2016.
Hull is looking to become the first team to finish sixth and win promotion to the Premier League since Blackpool in 2009-2010. It has won three of its four matches at Wembley Stadium, losing the other to Arsenal in the 2014 FA Cup final.
Sergej Jakirovic has seen his preparation affected by the late change in opponents, but he is confident Hull will still be in top form.
"For sure, it's a relief because, since Tuesday evening, we knew who we were playing against," Jakirovic said.
"We prepared for at least seven days for Southampton because they won in the semi-finals, and then, from Tuesday evening, we started to prepare for this game against Middlesbrough.
"Maybe it's a little bit short, but we already faced Southampton twice and Middlesbrough, so we know everything about them, and they know everything about us, so we will see on Saturday.
"I'm optimistic because we had a few very good sessions. I can say it like this, our main focus when we reached the finals was this game.
"No matter who our opponent was, our focus and concentration is on our team, what we can do there, how we can use our advantages."
