'I had the feeling' - Manager sends Leeds United, Southampton and Norwich City bullish play-off warning

West Bromwich Albion will enter the Championship play-offs with the confidence and belief they have shown all season as they strive to achieve their goal of promotion, says manager Carlos Corberan. The Baggies finished fifth in the Championship table on Saturday with their 3-0 victory over Preston North End seeing them secure their spot in the top six and leapfrog Norwich City.

As such, the Baggies will now take on Southampton over two legs for the right to play at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final. The first leg at The Hawthorns, will take place on Sunday, after Leeds United's clash with Norwich City, before the West Midlands outfit make the trip down to St Mary's on Friday, May 17.

West Brom won't care who they face in the final should they get there, but there is the possibility that Corberan could face off against Leeds, where he spent his formative years as a young coach between 2017 and 2020. The Baggies boss won't be looking that far ahead, though, with Southampton the only team on his mind as he strives to take the club back to the top flight in what is still his first full season at the club.

“I had the feeling that this was the first target of the season - to finish in the play-off positions," he told the official club website after reaching the play-offs. “We know we have spent many weeks in fifth position, but always in football you have to make evaluations about the last game and fortunately we achieved one position we probably deserved. For many weeks we’ve been there, but now we move onto our next target.”

He added: “Every point we have achieved is the consequence of a lot of work, sacrifice, determination, which are important things you need to show on the football pitch.

Keep up to date with all the latest Leeds United headlines, with the free Yorkshire Evening News - Leeds United newsletter. “The second thing was perform because we need to perform well and the performance of the team is based on the understanding of the game, to manage the different game situations in attack and defence.

“And probably the key aspect was belief because you need to not only believe when you get a chance, but when you concede them too, not only when you win the tackle but when you lose them too, not only when you concede two because in football that can be the key to believe and keep competing until the last second of any game.

“We will use today (Saturday) to recover, probably tomorrow too, but after this we know we are going to prepare for the game with all of the possibilities we can have, and analyse so we can make the best game. Achieving play-offs is not our target. It’s the first step of a bigger target.”