Middlesbrough vs. Brighton: The Fans' Perspective on the Championship Decider | US | Translation

After 45 games played out over nine months, the battle for promotion from the Championship has come down to the final fixture. While Burnley have already secured an automatic route to the Premier League, both Middlesbrough and Brighton & Hove Albion are hoping to join them on Saturday afternoon. The two clubs are level on points and – in a delicious quirk of the fixture computer – will go head-to-head on the final day. A draw will be enough to send Boro up, but a Brighton win will see the Seaguls back in the top flight for the first time since 1983.

We asked a fan of each club for their perspective on the promotion battle, the potential of facing the playoffs, and how their sides would cope in the Premier League. Joe is a Middlesbrough supporter who follows his team at away games around London, while Simon is a Brighton season ticket holder who does the occasional away fixture (he's even been to Blackburn).

Boro Joe: Before the season started, if we were offered to go into the final day with promotion in our hands then we would have been very happy, but we probably wouldn't have thought our opponent would be in the exact same position. I feel slightly sick every time I think about the game on Saturday. Still, we should be grateful to be in this position after a season which has been a lot more rocky than people expected.

Brighton Si: There was (and is still) a feeling around the club that our steady rise from rock bottom in the late '90s (homeless and on the brink of non-league) is inevitably going to take us all the way to the top flight sooner or later. Last season's relegation scrap was a fairly brutal reminder that football doesn't always respect the fairytale narrative. Most fans hoped at most to sneak into the playoffs this year (which is probably about where our budget 'ought' to get us).

Boro Joe: Adam Clayton has picked up where he left off last season and has proven himself to be a Premier League-quality defensive midfielder. He, along with the entire back five – including surprisingly-brilliant right-back Emilio Nsue – have ensured we're still in with a shout of going up without the playoffs. Things haven't flowed as well up front, and despite all the money thrown at it, it's still probably Albert Adomah who is the most consistent threat when we're attacking, just like last season.

Brighton Si: Our success has been built around the central midfield axis of Beram Kayal and Dale Stephens. They've been excellent all year, and had one of them picked up a significant injury I think things would have panned out very differently. Although Knockaert has monopolised most of the headlines, we've actually had six different wide men who've all been brilliant in interrupted spells. And Bruno at right back, 35 this year, only seems to improve with age.

Boro Joe: Karanka hasn't dealt well with the weight of the expectation on Boro this season and, just like his mentor Jose Mourinho, he has become slightly unhinged. Storming out of training and being refused entry to the ground was a low point, but things seem to have stabilised and we haven't lost since he was actually let back into the stadium. He's had another good season apart from a few crisis points but we have sorely lacked a plan B beyond our defensively solid, patient and probing 4-2-3-1. If we don't go up, I'm not sure if Karanka himself would want to stay, and the club would probably not regret losing him as much as they once would have.

Brighton Si: Hughton's initial reception last January was broadly positive, but by the end of the season – after some truly dire football – there was a significant 'out' camp. This year he's completely reinvented the team and in the process exploded the myth that his sides always play boring football. What's more, when juxtaposed with the histrionics and cynical tactics of Karanka, Dyche, Bruce et al, he seems more likeable and dignified than ever.

Boro Joe: We wouldn't get rolled over every week in the Premier League: our defence is in a good shape, and our results against the top teams in the Championship show we're suited better to playing against higher quality opposition. That being said, if we struggle to unpick defences like Ipswich and Charlton, we need some reinforcements if we're going to win any games rather than get a lot of creditable draws.

Brighton Si: Off the pitch we're definitely ready. On it we'd mainly need cover in central midfield, a right back (Bruno surely can't keep doing it forever) and (of course) the proverbial 'proven top-flight striker'.

Boro Joe: I don't think Boro fans could psychologically handle another playoff campaign after the pain of last year, and it's hard to know how the team would do. We've outplayed and beat nearly all of the other teams around us (including Brighton away, which seems like centuries ago) but that was before the mid-season meltdown, and despite not losing for a while we're lacking momentum. I'd say we'd still be the best of the four teams there, but I just really hope we don't actually have to prove it!

Brighton Si: Sheffield Wednesday are a bit of a bogey team for us, so it's worrying that we'd be facing them in the semis. We seem to be fairly mentally robust though, so maybe it'll be third time lucky. I do worry that we won't get another chance if we miss out this season. The new parachute payments next year are going to change the landscape significantly – it'll be a lot less competitive at the top and dominated by the [relegated] teams that receive them.