MARK Robins admitted it was the longest two hours of his life after the Sky Blues booked their place in the Championship play-off final at Wembley with a narrow second leg win at Middlesbrough.
The Sky Blues are now just 90 minutes away from ending their 22-year exile from the top flight after Gustavo Hamer’s goal sealed a 1-0 aggregate victory at the Riverside Stadium.
And Robins, who signed a new four-year deal to remain as Sky Blues boss just hours before yesterday’s superb victory, believes the Sky Blues must now go on and win the final.
Robins said: “Wow, that was the longest two hours of my life.
“It was unbelievable the effort they’ve put in and the quality they’ve shown against a really top opponent is incredible.
“To get to a third Wembley final in the six years since I’ve come back in is just incredible.
“The work that has gone into tonight is phenomenal and we got our reward, but we’ve got to go to Wembley and win it.
“The noise inside the stadium was phenomenal but it was our support we heard at the end, it was an incredible evening.”
Play-off final opponents Luton most recently played in the top-flight in 1991/92 when they were relegated on the final day of the season after they failed to better Coventry’s result who finished directly above the Hatters in the table.
The two clubs were both promoted from League Two as recently as the 2016/17 season and have overcome several challenges on and off the pitch to come within one win of reaching the Premier League.
Robins added: “We need to get a breather now and re-group to be ready for this final, we’ve got to enjoy this little bit before the prep starts for Wembley.
“It’s a game for the romantics, the journey of where us and Luton have both come from, I remember them with a 30-point deduction.
“It’s been a tough road for them but a tough road for us and we’ve got our own tails of woe from years gone by, so we’re going to have a really good go at getting back into the Premier League, we’ve got one game to go.
“We’ll work hard but it’s going to be a hell of a game.”
The play-off final takes place on Saturday, May 27 with kick-off at 4.45pm at Wembley Stadium.
