Relive Brentford's play-off final win over Swansea

Ice cool, no pressure from him whatsoever. Unbelievable composure from Ivan Toney.

Bryan Mbeumo is fouled in the area by Swansea goalkeeper Freddie Woodman!

Swansea boss Steve Cooper has sprung something of a surprise here by going back to a 3-5-2 formation.

Cooper used the system for much of the 2020-21, but switched to 4-2-3-1 in the latter stages of the campaign.

But forced in part perhaps by the injury to Wayne Routledge, Cooper has deployed Connor Roberts at wing-back rather than further up the pitch.

That means Andre Ayew and Jamal Lowe are operating as a front two for the Welsh side.

Ooh, that is a sore one.

Swansea skipper Matt Grimes is in the book for a VERY poor challenge on Sergi Canos near the halfway line.

I think in the Premier League, with VAR, that might well have been red.

Brentford midfielder Emiliano Marcondes has the first shot of the game from long range and... well, it remains 0-0 is the best thing I can say for his effort.

The Bees have the first foray forward of the match but it comes to nothing.

Swansea will be out for revenge today, it was Brentford who put them out in the semi-final stage of the play-offs last season.

Swansea get the game under way at a very sunny Wembley.

Who will be a Premier League team at the end of today?

If the poll we ran earlier (see 14:55 BST entry) is anything to go by you guys think it will be the Bees who come out on top.

If you're into this kind of thing:

• The last time a Championship club reached the play-off final having lost the previous year's was Aston Villa in 2019. The Villans lost to Fulham, who beat Brentford last year, in 2018 before beating Derby in 2019.
• When Swansea last won promotion to the Premier League in 2010-11 they did so by winning the play-off final having finished the regular season with 80 points. The same number they finished on this season.

What does it all mean? Well, in the case of the very unsuperstitious Brentford boss Thomas Frank absolutely nothing.

Under normal circumstances, there would be something close to a capacity crowd for a game of this magnitude.

In Covid-19 times, there are around 12,000 fans inside Wembley - but they are making some serious noise as the teams come out.

This is it.

Nine months, 46 regular-season games apiece and two play-off semi-final games each and it all comes down to this for Brentford and Swansea City.

Right, time for an INCREDIBLY unscientific poll.

If you think Brentford are going to go up today give this post a thumbs up, if you think it's going to be Swansea then click the down thumb.

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Brentford defender Henrik Dalsgaard is confident the club can finally end their woeful record, and achieve promotion through the EFL play-offs at the 10th attempt.

The Dane netted for the Bees in their 2-1 defeat by Fulham last year - the west London club's fourth loss in a play-off final.

"One time has to be the first and that's going to be on Saturday," the 31-year-old right-back said this week.

"We try to focus on ourselves but I honestly believe that if we hit our top level then we are going to be really, really hard to beat.

"Obviously there is an opponent but if we make it right, I'm sure we will make it.

"This is why we play football - to play the big decisive games."

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The two league meetings between these sides this season have both been tight affairs that have ended in 1-1 draws.

The game between the two at the Liberty Stadium in January did however produce one of the photos of the season.

Swansea head coach Steve Cooper makes just one enforced change to the side which started last Saturday's semi-final second leg against Barnsley, with Connor Roberts the man summoned to replace the injured Wayne Routledge.

The question now is where Roberts fits in. Will he play in the unfamiliar attacking role he has filled at times in the latter part of the season, or might Steve Cooper revert to the 3-5-2 system which he has used for much of the campaign?

Swansea: Woodman, Naughton, Cabango, Guehi, Bidwell, Fulton, Grimes (capt), Hourihane, Roberts, Lowe, Ayew.

Subs: Hamer, Bennett, Freeman, Latibeaudiere, Manning, Smith, Whittaker, Cullen, Dhanda.

There are no surprises in the Brentford XI, as Thomas Frank sticks with the side which started the second leg against Bournemouth in the semi-finals.

The one query was whether Christian Norgaard would overcome the injury sustained in the warm-up against the Cherries which saw the midfielder miss the dramatic 3-1 win but he's only fit enough for the bench.

Finland striker Marcus Forss, who netted the goal which settled that tie on aggregate, is the obvious man to turn to if Frank needs a breakthrough later on.

Six of today's side started the defeat by Fulham here last August, while Emiliano Marcondes and Sergi Canos came off the bench.

Young wing-back Mads Roerslev was an unused sub nine months ago, while German midfielder Vitaly Janelt gets his first taste of the play-off final.

Brentford XI: Raya, Dalsgaard, Jansson, Pinnock, Roerslev, Janelt, Jensen, Marcondes, Canos, Mbeumo, Toney.

Subs: Daniels, Goode, Norgaard, Forss, Ghoddos, Reid, Fosu, Stevens, Bidstrup.

Every season in the build up to the play-off final the mind-boggling amount the game is worth to the victor is widely shared.

And this year is no different.

Whoever comes out on top today is in line to see their income boosted by around £178m.

To put that into context that's... a lot of money.

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Brentford fans could have been forgiven for worrying about the loss of star forwards Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma after last season's play-off final disappointment.

However, as has so often been the case at the Bees in recent years, when talent is sold on (for major profit) it is replaced for minimal cost but maximum effectiveness.

Ivan Toney joined from Peterborough for £5m and has scored a frankly ridiculous 32 goals in 52 games this season.

Toney, 25, had a brief spell in the Premier League with Newcastle at the start of his career but it seems fair to say that whatever the outcome of today's match is, the odds are he'll be back in the big time next season.

You can read all about his outstanding season and his journey so far by clicking here.

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There are 22 different stories for the 22 players out on the pitch today but Swansea forward Jamal Lowe's stands out.

Six years ago Lowe, from Harrow, was playing in English football's seventh tier for Hampton and Richmond Borough while teaching PE in a London junior school.

"At that time I was thinking 'can I get a top Conference Premier club or a struggling League Two club?'," Lowe told BBC Sport Wales.

"That was the ambition, that was the goal. There were obviously times when it was tough, mentally, physically and emotionally.

"To be one game from the Premier League is amazing - but it's not done yet."

You can read the full feature with the Swansea man by clicking here.

Since the play-offs were introduced in 1987 only 11 current English Football League clubs have failed to reach a final - can you name them?

Test your knowledge and tell us how you got on by using #bbcefl on Twitter.