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Aitor Karanka thanks his Middlesbrough players for sealing play-off final date

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Aitor Karanka thanks his Middlesbrough side for giving him the chance to lead the team at Wembley.

Aitor Karanka thanked his Middlesbrough team for earning him a Wembley date after beating Brentford to reach the Championship play-off final.

Goals from Lee Tomlin, Kike and Albert Adomah earned a 3-0 second-leg win over Brentford at the Riverside, and a 5-1 aggregate success to set up a clash with either Norwich or Ipswich on May 25, with a Premier League place on the line.

The former Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid defender will be able to tick off one of his great wishes, with his only previous trip to Wembley being for a disciplinary hearing earlier this season which resulted in a one-match touchline ban.

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"I have been manager for 18 months and we have been dreaming of this moment," Karanka said.

"I told the players 'thank you', I achieved a lot of things as a player but I never played at Wembley.

"I have achieved a lot of things as a player - the Champions League and leagues and everything - but I didn't have the opportunity to play at Wembley and they have given me that opportunity.

"But the first one is Steve Gibson. When I came here, I told him that he deserved the best and for him, for the crowd, for the club, for everybody, it's very good."

Captain Grant Leadbitter was one of the stars as Boro eased into the final.

He and Adam Clayton in the midfield stifled Brentford from the first minute to the last and that proved crucial in Boro’s commanding performance.

"We went down to Brentford and came back with the result we wanted, and tonight we outclassed Brentford," Leadbitter added.

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