A place in League One is at stake when Southend United and Wycombe Wanderers meet in the League Two playoff final at Wembley on Saturday evening.
The two teams missed out on automatic promotion by a single point, but they will both be boosted by their recent wins in the playoff semi-finals.
Southend
On the final day of the season, Southend were within touching distance of earning automatic promotion to League One and they travelled to Morecambe knowing that three points would send them up.
However, they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at the Seasiders and were forced to settle for a place in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
They were dumped out at the semi-final stage by Burton Albion last year, but things have gone better for them this time around and last week they booked their spot at Wembley by beating Stevenage 4-2 on aggregate, after the second leg of their clash went to extra time.
Phil Brown will be hoping that his team can finally secure promotion this weekend and it would certainly vindicate the good work that he has done at the club since arriving two years ago.
They will head into the final with one of the best defensive records from the season, having conceded just 38 times during their league campaign, with only Shrewsbury Town and Plymouth Argyle leaking fewer goals.
Recent form: WWWLDW
Wycombe
Wycombe finished the season level on points with Southend in the League Two table, but they did not suffer the same disappointment as their opponents on the final day.
The Chairboys were punished in their penultimate match of the campaign when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Morecambe, meaning that Bury and Southend had to lose their final games for them to secure automatic promotion.
A win for Bury consigned them to the playoffs and they were then drawn against Plymouth Argyle. They looked to be romping towards the final after taking a three-goal lead in the first leg, but two late goals from the Pilgrims cast some doubt ahead of the return meeting.
However, they managed to hold on and claim a 2-1 win in the second leg that has set up a Wembley final, just a year after they were almost relegated to the Conference.
They had actually finished 22nd last season and level on points with Bristol Rovers, but they survived due to a slightly better goal difference and a final-day victory over Torquay, which makes their turnaround in fortunes this season all the more remarkable.
Recent form: WDLWWW
Team News
Michael Timlin is expected to start once again for Southend, despite his clash of heads with Bira Dembele in the first leg of the playoff against Stevenage.
However, Adam Thompson is still ruled out with the shoulder injury that he picked up at the start of April.
Matt Ingram missed both legs of the playoff semi-finals for Wycombe with a knee problem, and if he is unable to recover then Alex Lynch will continue to deputize in goal.
Steven Craig could also return after being ruled out of the last match with a hamstring injury.
Southend possible starting lineup:
Bentley, Whitem, Bolger, Barrett, Coker, Atkinson, Leonard, Timlin, Worrall, Corr, Pigott
Wycombe possible starting lineup:
Ingram, Bean, Jacobson, Mawson, Pierre, Saunders, Yennaris, Wood, Craig, Holloway, Hayes
Head To Head
The last meeting between these clubs in March ended in a 2-2 draw at Roots Hall, while Wycombe claimed a 4-1 win in their other league clash last December.
The Chairboys are actually unbeaten in their last four games against Southend and have lost just three of the previous 14 matches against them.
We say: Southend 2-1 Wycombe
There was little to choose between the teams in the league and it should be just as tight in the final this weekend. They have both shown their quality in their recent playoff victories, but we think that Southend will just edge the contest and book a return to League One.
