Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy says that his side deserve their place in the top six of the Sky Bet Championship, and believes his side have enough to beat local rivals Norwich City in their semi-final.
Top scorer Daryl Murphy took his league tally for the season to 27 goals with a brace on the final day, but a 3-2 defeat at Blackburn meant that McCarthy's men had to rely on Reading to thrash play-off rivals Derby.
But McCarthy claims that his side's overall performances over the course of the season mean that the Tractor Boys are in the play-offs on merit.
“I would rather have done it ourselves and we didn’t play well but over the season, we deserve to be there,” he said.
“I have always said that it’s where you are on May 2 that counts and we are in the Play-Offs with 78 points.
“I thought someone would get slapped on the last day and in the end it was Derby and not us and I’m delighted about that.
“If you looked at the possible outcomes on the last day, you would not have picked the one we have ended up with but that’s football.
An East Anglian derby with Norwich awaits for McCarthy's side, and the veteran manager is looking forward to the occasion - despite having lost to the Canaries twice this season already.
“At the start of the season, not many would have picked us for top six but we are there on merit," he continued.
"We now have an unbelievable tie to look forward to against Norwich with a fantastic prize at stake. I’ll relish it.”
Ipswich will play the first leg of their semi-final at home on Saturday 9th of May, with the return leg at Carrow Road coming the following Saturday. The winner will play either Middlesbrough or Brentford in the Wembley final.