Alex Neil hails Jack Clarke's 'quality' as Sunderland book their place in Wembley final

Alex Neil praised Jack Clarke for producing the moment of quality that delivered the injury-time goal that sent Sunderland to Wembley for the League One play-off final. The Black Cats drew 1-1 in the play-off semi-final second leg against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, which meant they went through 2-1 on aggregate.

But it was a close-run thing, with Lee Gregory putting the Owls ahead on the night 15 minutes from time and levelling the tie, before Patrick Roberts scored the crucial goal four minutes into stoppage time. On-loan Spurs wideman Clarke was outstanding on the night, helping out Dennis Cirkin defensively while also causing problems for Wednesday every time he went forward and he laid the groundwork for the goal, had beaten his man inside the penalty area before squaring for Roberts to apply the finish.

"It's what happens with players, particularly young ones, they dip and they come back, they dip and they come back," said Neil. "Jack has got good quality. He can take the ball, he can dribble, he can go past people, and those kind of players are really useful to have in the team and he delivered the moment we needed and Pat [Roberts] got on the end of it.

"The hardest thing always is to get really creative players to work extremely hard, but our lads have got an appetite and an understanding of the greater good. The rest of their teammates demand it, I demand it, and they demand it of themselves. You don't win anything without hard work and graft - that's a pre-requisite - and then, as for the rest of it, if you've got quality, that's a bonus. We've got that quality, and we also put in the hard work and the graft."

Sunderland will now face Wycombe Wanderers in the final at Wembley a week on Saturday,