Hull City

  1. John Drinkall wearing an orange and black Hull City shirt. He has grey hair and is posing with his arms wide, while smiling at the camera. Fans are gathering outside a pub behind him.

  2. Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic (left) and Middlesbrough counterpart Kim Hellberg (right) applaud fans

  3. Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic and Middlesbrough counterpart Kim Hellberg

  4. Gillett to referee Hull City v Boro play-off final

    Jared Gillett consults a sideline monitor during a VAR check for a Leeds penalty against Tottenham in the Premier League earlier this monthGetty Images

    The referee for Saturday's Championship play-off final between Hull City and Middlesbrough will be Jared Gillett.

    The Australian is usually a Premier League official but his one Championship game this season was Boro's crucial match at Ipswich on 19 April, when the fight for the top two was in full swing.

    The visitors were leading 2-1 when Town were awarded a controversial penalty for a tug on George Hirst in the area four minutes from time, allowing Jack Clarke to salvage a point which helped the Tractor Boys finish second, four points above Boro.

    Four Boro players were booked in 39-year-old Gillett's total of six cautions on the day.

    One thing which will be different this time around is that the video assistant referee (VAR) will be in use at Wembley, whereas it was not at Portman Road.

    In last year's final, VAR intervened to chalk off a goal which would have put Sheffield United 2-0 up against Sunderland before the Black Cats came back to snatch a last-gasp 2-1 win.

  5. A Chelsea player has control of the ball while a Middlesbrough player attempts to slide tackle him

  6. Steve Bruce lifts the Championship play-off final trophy aloft at Wembley in 2016.

  7. Geoff Golliker is sitting next to his grandson Jacob Allmendinger. Golliker has a bald head and is wearing glasses and a black Hull City T-shirt with yellow branding on. Allmendinger has short brown hair and is wearing an orange and black Hull City football shirt. They are both sitting on grey chairs smiling at the camera.

  8. Lewie Coyle standing in front of other players on the platform at Hull Station. He has short dark hair and a beard and wears a black and amber Hull City T-shirt

  9. Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic during his side's play-off semi-final win at Millwall

  10. Side-by-side images of Jed Wallace celebrating with Mahlon Romeo with the League One play-off trophy in 2017 and Barry Bannan wishing goalkeeper Cameron Dawson well in Sheffield Wednesday's penalty shootout against Peterborough United in 2023

  11. Southampton FC corner flag

  12. A man in a dark jacket and blue jeans stands partially concealed by a tree trunk and holds a phone up in two hands as if filming and has a white earphone in his right ear

  13. Mohamed Belloumi and Oliver McBurnie of Hull City celebrate at full time following the team's victory in the Championship play off semi-final second leg match against Millwall. They are joined by other players and all are wearing orange football shirts.

  14. Kim Hellberg manager of Middlesbrough applauds fans at full time alongside Middlesbrough players

  15. Richard Heath holding up an amber and black Hull City Wembley play-off scarf. He has short light hair and is wearing a lime green T-shirt and grey padded gilet

  16. Southampton flag and badge

  17. Kofi Smiles and Mike White in the studio

  18. Jack Gorbert pictured wearing a Hull City shirt and a green baseball cap. There is an expanse of water in the background.

  19. A man in a dark jacket and blue jeans stands partially concealed by a tree trunk and holds a phone up in two hands as if filming and has a white earphone in his right ear

  20. Scotland head coach Steve Clarke and Hull City striker Oli McBurnie

  21. Southampton expelled from the play-off final

  22. A fan is seen using binoculars outside the stadium prior to the Championship play-off semi-final match between Middlesbrough and Southampton at Riverside Stadium

  23. Tigers 'fully focused' on Southampton

    Hull City's full focus is on facing Southampton in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday afternoon, assistant manager Dean Holden has said.

    Holden joined Mark Chapman on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club amid continued uncertainty over the fixture as we await the verdict of the English Football League's independent disciplinary commission's investigation into allegations Southampton spied on Middlesbrough's training session ahead of the first leg of their semi-final earlier this month.

    Holden said: "We're preparing fully to play Southampton on Saturday at 16:30 BST - that's what we've been told by the EFL. If anything changes in the next couple days then we'll have to adapt to that."

    Holden accepted the gruelling Championship season, which features 46 games and regular intervals of three-days between games, means they can adapt if necessary.

    "The key thing for us as staff is make sure to be as concise as possible," he said. "There's obviously going to be a lot of emotion, a lot of nervous energy, going into such a big occasion and for us it's about the players going out there and not overthinking.

    "We've adapted well to teams that we're playing against, to suffering a lot of injuries and we've found ways to win.

    "We can't afford to take our eyes off it and start trying to overcomplicate this situation."

    He added: "It's such a unique situation. We've had two great results against Southampton. We've got a dossier on every team we've played against, we watched both semi-finals in detail. We've got a good understanding on all the teams.

    "The full focus is and will remain on Southampton. If we're asking our analyst team, which is quite small, to prepare for two games we're asking for problems."

    Holden said there was a 'great atmosphere' in training and: "There doesn't seem any anxiety at the moment. We can't get away from the noise, it's everywhere you turn, but the gaffer's [Sergej Jakirovic] been great with his messaging.

    "We've trained as normal on Monday. It won't affect our training until we get a result [from the commission]."

    You can listen to that on BBC Sounds highlights of the show here. Dean Holden's interview is at 48:12.

  24. Hull City's Regan Slater, wearing the amber and black kit, is carried on the shoulders of a team-mate at the final whistle after the Championship play-off semi-final second leg match at The Den in London

Hull City on Sounds

View all 429 available episodes