Sunderland welcome Coventry to the Stadium of Light tonight, as they aim to defend their one goal advantage. The Black Cats are now heavy favourites to make the playoff final, as avoiding defeat is all that stands between Sunderland and Wembley.

Sunderland have reached the Championship play-off final after a dramatic 3-2 aggregate win over Coventry City. Scorers: Ballard 120+3'; Mason-Clark 75'Ephron Mason-Clark broke the deadlock in the

Sunderland and Coventry go head to head at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night for the second leg of their Championship play-off semi final, with the hosts holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg.

Frank Lampard praised Sunderland’s Dan Ballard for a ‘fantastic’ performance over the course of the Championship play-off semi final.

Sunderland's 2-1 win in the first leg was their first victory against Coventry since February 2007, ending a run of 10 games without a win against the Sky Blues (D5 L5). Coventry have won two of their past five away games against Sunderland in all competitions (D3), having won just one of their first 18 visits to the Black Cats (D8 L9).

Regis Le Bris has guided Sunderland to the Championship play-off final in his first season in charge of the Black Cats

The Black Cats reached the Championship play-off final after Dan Ballard's last-gasp header in extra time decided their semi-final tie against Coventry City

Sunderland has booked a showdown with Sheffield United for a place in the Premier League. Dan Ballard bundled in a goal in stoppage time of extra time to earn Sunderland a 1-1 draw with Coventry and a 3-2 victory on aggregate in the Championship playoff semifinals.

The winner of the play-off semi-final is decided by the tie's aggregate score after both legs. Away goals do not count, so if the tie finishes level then extra time will played and penalties may be required. The tie between Sunderland and Coventry City ended 2-2 after the two games.