Two former Football League clubs will go head-to-head in the Blue Square Bet Premier Division play-off final at Wembley on Sunday as York City and Luton Town bid to make a return to League Two (totesport – match prices).
York boss Gary Mills takes his side back to the national stadium for the second successive weekend after their 2-0 FA Trophy victory against Newport last Saturday.
The Minstermen (11/10 Promotion) will be in confident mood for the game and have plenty going for them with regards to head-to-heads with the Hatters in recent big encounters.
York recorded a league double over Luton with a 3-0 win at Bootham Crescent last September followed by a 2-1 victory at Kenilworth Road in March. They also defeated the Hatters 2-1 on aggregate over two legs of their FA Trophy meeting during the campaign.
York also defeated Luton in their previous play-off encounter in 2010 when they followed up a 1-0 home win with the same score-line away to secure a place in the final which they went on to lose 3-1 against Oxford United.
Mills, who will go into this latest encounter boosted by the return of defender Chris Doig after he missed the FA Trophy success with a calf injury, claims promotion would be “like going from the Championship to the Premier League”.
Luton go into the game with the omens stacked against them, having followed up the 2010 semi-final defeat to York by losing last years final on penalties to Wimbledon, while their boss Paul Buckle tasted defeat with former club Torquay in the League Two play-off final.
However, Buckle did guide the Gulls back into the Football League in 2009 so knows what it takes to get a team through the pressure cooker atmosphere of a play-off final.
Buckle has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game and could be boosted by the return of midfielder Godfrey Poku from an ankle injury.
Going into the game he said: “We’ve had some massive games. It’s all there for the players. We’ve just got to Wembley believing and with a real positive frame of mind.”
York, who finished in fourth position in the regular season – one place and two points above Luton in fifth – scraped past Mansfeld after extra time in their semi-final, while the Hatters defeated a Wrexham side that finished three places and 17 points better off 3-2 on aggregate.
And, while York have won three of their four meetings in this past season not to mention having the psychological edge having won at Wembley last weekend, we feel it is Luton’s year to make a return to the Football League (4/6 Promotion) but they could require more than 90 minutes to do it.
Prediction: Draw 90 Minutes @ 9/4
Value Bet: 1-1 Draw Correct Score 90 Minutes @ 11/2
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.