Huddersfield boss Carlos Corberan is convinced his players have “the right mentality” to seal promotion back to the Premier League after their play-off semi-final win against Luton.
Jordan Rhodes’ solitary late goal clinched the Terriers a 1-0 second-leg victory at the John Smith’s Stadium and a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
Huddersfield, relegated from the top flight in 2019, will now play either Nottingham Forest or Sheffield United in the final at Wembley on May 29.
Corberan, in his second season in charge, said: “We knew that having the right mentality and the right character was going to be important if we wanted to reach Wembley.
“First of all, I must congratulate the players and I’m looking forward to the final.
“Nothing makes me feel more proud than seeing how happy they are and how much they identify with the team.
“We’ll rest in the next couple of days and then we will start working towards that game and see who we are going to play.”
Luton were unlucky to fall to a late sucker-punch as Rhodes ghosted in at the far post to convert substitute Sorba Thomas’ 82nd-minute free-kick.
The Hatters shaded long periods of the second leg, just as they had done in Friday’s first leg at Kenilworth Road, which ended 1-1.
Corberan added: “It was not an easy game and we had to work really, really hard.
“I don’t think there was really a time where we were better than Luton, but we got the special moment from a set piece.”
Luton manager Nathan Jones labelled some of Huddersfield’s fans “an absolute disgrace” after they ran on to the pitch at the final whistle.
Some Terriers supporters ran to the away end to taunt Luton’s fans, while Jones said he had been abused by others.
He said: “The fans were an absolute disgrace. How one of us hasn’t been…the stewards, I don’t know why they turned up.
“We won’t complain because football fans are like that, some are idiots. They didn’t paint Huddersfield Town as a good club.
“They won the game, go and celebrate with your players, go and celebrate something wonderful. Instead they were more concerned making obscene gestures.
“I’ve seen little kids, I’ve seen a mother with a little kid. If that was my wife I’d be disgusted.
“They approached me, they abused me and done stuff to me. Some were OK, some congratulated us, but they haven’t painted Huddersfield Town in a good light after that.”
Jones, who guided Luton to promotion to League One in 2018 and returned for a second spell in charge in 2020 after an unsuccessful stint at Stoke, promised his side will come back stronger.
“Absolutely we want to finish higher (next season), we want to push boundaries. We want to do that now we’ve created expectations,” Jones said.
“It might not be possible, but we will recruit. Our squad will be better come June 23, I’m convinced of that, and we go again.
“The thing that’s caught up with us this season is the fact that we’ve had so many injuries. I’ve not been able to pick my best XI with game-changers for two months.
“Congratulations to Huddersfield, they’ve been magnificent all season, but let’s talk about us, we’ve been outstanding, I’m so proud of them.”
