West Brom ready for play-off 'lottery' - Furlong

Darnell Furlong's next appearance for West Brom will be his 200th since joining from Swindon in July 2019

West Brom defender Darnell Furlong says his side understand the "special" challenge the Championship play-offs present and insists they are ready to face Southampton.

The Baggies clinched fifth place with a 3-0 win over Preston on the final day at the Hawthorns and now meet fourth-placed Saints on Sunday.

Furlong, 28, was part of the team that got promoted under Slaven Bilic in 2019-20 and is confident there can be a repeat under Carlos Corberan.

“We know the play-offs is a lottery but we will be doing everything we can,” he told BBC Radio WM.

“We’re here for a reason, so are the other teams but will take it to them and see what happens.

“The play-offs are a very special part of football; the Championship play-off final is one of the biggest games in the world. It’ll be nice to get there and see what happens.”

Beating Southampton over two legs will see West Brom face either Leeds or Norwich at Wembley in the final on Sunday, 26 May.

The Saints did the double over the Baggies in the league this season on their way to finishing 12 points ahead of Corberan's side.

After losing 2-0 at home in February and 2-1 at St Mary’s three months earlier, Furlong, who is the only outfield player to feature in every game, says they can learn lessons from those meetings.

“It is definitely going to be close," he said.

"The game at their place was one of our best performances of the season.

"We’ll go there, understand what the manager wants and try and implement it.”