Exclusive: Don Goodman reveals how Sunderland can beat Sheffield United at Wembley | OneFootball

The Black Cats are one game away from ending their hiatus from the Premier League

Former Sunderland striker and Sky Sports pundit, Don Goodman, has highlighted how the Black Cats can get the better of Sheffield United in the upcoming Championship play-off final.

Unsurprisingly, the post-season lottery which is famed for serving up plenty of drama, once again lived up to the billing once again in the semi-finals, particularly at the Stadium of Light where the 58-year-old was present for TV coverage alongside former Reading captain, Jobi McAnuff, from the gantry.

He, and many others, witnessed some of the most dramatic scenes in play-off history as the Black Cats booked their place at Wembley with a 3-2 aggregate score over Coventry City as the imperious Dan Ballard capped off a superb individual two-legged performance as his stooping 122nd-minute header proved to be the final touch of an extremely hard-fought battle against Frank Lampard's side.

By contrast, Chris Wilder's side, who were made favourites heading into the end-of-season showdowns, would breeze past sixth-placed Bristol City at Ashton Gate and Bramall Lane, with a 3-0 scoreline in both encounters seeing the Blades create history with the largest-ever winning margin in semi-final history at second-tier level.

The sides who finished third and fourth over the course of the regular season will now compete for a Premier League return on May 24th, and Goodman has been discussing the game-plan which his former club have to execute to perfection at Wembley Stadium.

Don Goodman issues Sunderland AFC verdict ahead of Sheffield United, Wembley showdown

Ahead of what is dubbed as the 'richest game in football', with this year's Wembley winners set to bank at least £220m, Goodman believes that the Wearside outfit have to showcase a greater level of performance, although the threats posed to them by Wilder's men are expected to be much different to the questions asked over 210 plus minutes against the Sky Blues.

"There's no doubt that Sheffield United are going to go in favourites into the play-off final," he exclusively told Football League World.

"They breezed past Bristol City and watched Sunderland, really, have to dig very, very deep and, actually, you could argue were second best against Coventry," he added. "But, they dug so deep, ground it out and managed to get the victory.

"But, I do think Coventry City and Sheffield United play in a different way to each other, so Sunderland may be able to get their forward players on the ball a bit more often than they were able to against Coventry City," Goodman explained.

"And, if they can do that, the likes of Mayenda, Isidor and Romaine Mundle, who's just back fit, would, or could, cause any Championship defence problems.

"I do think the key to Sunderland being victorious is getting as much ball in good areas to those talented forwards that they have," the former Black Cats striker continued.

"And, obviously, they'll need a masterclass defensively as well, because Sheffield United are an excellent team and will fancy their chances."

Sheffield United and Sunderland will provide an intriguing Wembley spectacle

As Goodman alluded to, the key for Sunderland is to provide their attacking threats with an array of chances in strong areas, with Isidor and Mayenda proving a handful in transition and on the counter-attack at the CBS Arena, and due to the size of the Wembley pitch, executing a similar feat against the Blades could swing the pendulum.

Despite being 3-0 up at this particular moment, United did pass up a handful of chances to Liam Manning's side in the second-leg in S2 where the likes of Scott Twine, Haydon Roberts and Nahki Wells found themselves in pockets of space between or behind their usually imperious defensive line.

Although their regular end-of-season form meant not many saw the Black Cats as favourites against Coventry who stormed into the play-offs, Ballard's presence in both boxes was the ultimate difference, having netted the decisive and dramatic goal on Tuesday night, but also made 39 clearances - 33 of which were headed - and won 16 of his aerial battles over 210 minutes of compelling drama.

Given the fact Wilder alternated his attacking options in both legs, it is up for debate as to who will start out of Tyrese Campbell and former Sunderland target, Tom Cannon, alongside Kieffer Moore, but with the Northern Ireland defender in such a rich vein of confidence, he and Luke O'Nien will fancy their chances of shutting out the South Yorkshire side's frontmen.

In the regular season, both sides won their respective home clashes against the opposition, adding yet another reason why this play-off final is so hard to call.