Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy says there can be no complaining if his side beat favourites Norwich City in their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final.
Norwich finished the season in third, eight points clear of sixth-placed Ipswich, and it has been suggested over the years that a team which finishes sixth in the regular season can be promoted over a team which barely misses out on automatic promotion.
But McCarthy has defended the system, claiming that it adds to the unpredictability of what some call the most entertaining football league in the world.
“I’m a big fan of the play-off system,” asserted McCarthy. “My record in them is not great (he has lost play-off semi-finals with Millwall, Sunderland and Wolves), in fact I was the first to suffer disappointment when they were introduced, but I still think they’re brilliant.
“Everybody always wants to reinvent the world. It strikes me that it works perfectly well. If you finish third and you feel a bit peeved that you’re playing the team that finished sixth and however many points behind you, well you knew that at the start of the season.
“Finish second or first and they you don’t have to whinge about the rules when you get there.
“I had to accept them 20-odd years ago when I was at Millwall and we finished third. We lost to Derby having finished loads of points clear of them. I got on with it though. You’ve got to.”
The 56-year-old's Ipswich side will be outsiders for the play-offs with Norwich, Middlesbrough and Brentford all having finished above them in the table, but McCarthy feels that the play-off system ensures an even playing field.
And in the heat of an East Anglian derby with a place in the Wembley final at stake, any eventuality could still occur despite the Canaries having been widely touted as favourites.
He continued: “The play-off system makes the league exciting. It keeps a good two thirds of the league fighting for something for the majority of the season.
“I remember Crystal Palace being bottom, going on an unbelievable run to finish sixth and winning the play-offs. I like the way this league is structured. In fact I like it so much I want to get out of it!”