What managers have said ahead of 24/25 League One playoff semi final 2nd legs

We take a look at what the managers have said ahead of the 24/25 EFL League One playoff semi final 2nd legs this weekend.

League One

Semi-final first legs
Saturday May 10: Leyton Orient 2-2 Stockport County – Brisbane Road, kick-off 12.30pm
Sunday May 11: Wycombe 0-0 Charlton – Adams Park, kick-off 6.30pm

Semi-final second legs
Wednesday May 14: Stockport vs Leyton Orient – Edgeley Park, kick-off 8pm
Thursday May 15: Charlton vs Wycombe – The Valley, kick-off 8pm

Final
Sunday May 25: TBC vs TBC – Wembley, kick-off 1pm

SKY BET ODDS:

League One
Charlton – 7/4 (was 12/5)
Stockport – 15/8 (was 2/1)
Wycombe – 7/2 (was 12/5)
Leyton Orient – 9/2 (was 9/2)

LEYTON ORIENT’S RICHIE WELLENS:

“We absolutely deserve it [to be in the play-offs],” Wellens told BBC Radio London.

“In the last 30 games of the League One season we’ve picked up 63 points. Only Charlton have matched us and only Birmingham are above us, so this has not been a one or two-month thing, this has been over a long period of time – 30 games is 70% of the season.

“The players have been absolutely fantastic. The fact we’ve done it not spending huge amounts of money, and developing young players as well as winning, the club can take huge amounts of satisfaction from that.

“We’ve come a long way in the last three years and to make it one more step to the Championship would put the club in an unbelievable position going forward.

“We’ve had penalty shootouts three times this year and we’ve not practiced. I don’t think you can replicate the pressure. You can’t replicate the mindset that the players go through.

“We’ve got goals in our team, we’ve got nothing to fear [and] we need to go for it.

“We know that this is a season-defining game. We don’t want the season to end on Wednesday.

“If we’re at it, front-footed and really energeticm then I think we can prolong our season [by] one more game.”

STOCKPORT’S DAVE CHALLINOR:

Interviewer: Dave, you describe Saturday as the biggest game of your managerial career. With that in mind, Wednesday is presumably that much bigger.

Dave: Yeah, of course it is. It’s one step closer to the the end of the season, one step closer to a um an objective that we set the start of the season season to achieve. So yeah, a big game that we’re looking forward to.

Interviewer: You spoke last time about this being your 10th playoff campaign as a manager. How much has your approach towards them evolved in that time? Has much changed from that first success at Colwyn Bay to here and now.

Dave: I’m not sure. I would suggest yes. But I don’t think you consciously really think about things. I think the the processes you go through in order to be successful maybe over the course of a season can be dictated to by your experiences around having having success and what you’ve you’ve done over that period to allow that to to happen. when you get into these playoff campaigns, they don’t get any easier. The teams in the playoff positions are there for a reason. They’re good teams. They’re normally really well matched and I think that’s the case with the group that we have in this little mini tournament if you like. But you have to use any advantage that you can to if it’s to provide a little bit of advice, experience to the players that will help then brilliant. we’ve done that, but that’s not to say that um the players haven’t performed or gone out gone out and had to perform in a really really good way because it’s difficult. I’ve been there as a player that they’re tough games. As much as we can try and be consistent and and take any emotion out of it, the jeopardy is enormous and and and players realise that. So, the pleasing thing for us was sat and performed in a really really good way and have given ourselves this opportunity of a um like I say one-off game at home to try and progress to a playoff final. Both teams had a good look at each other on Saturday.

Interviewer: What were you able to take and I suppose learn from that game that you can use going into the second leg?

Dave: Not not a massive amount just as I don’t think late will have learned a massive amount. I think I think the game was a a really good game. um two teams trying to trying to play and trying to play their way in order to get the the better of another team. Um really a really close game. I don’t think there’s anything that happened on Saturday that will have shocked from our perspective and vice versa. We know what their threats are. We know what they try and do. They’re good at it. You have to try and stop them. And likewise, we’re similar. So if we’ve learned anything, we’ve learned that the two teams that we thought were closely matched are really closely matched. We’ve got to look at people will think that for us the hard work is done because we’ve gone away from home and we’ve got a draw. I think the playoffs this campaign have showed you that I don’t think a team has won at home yet. So that’s nothing against the norm at the moment, but the hard work is in front of us. This is a 50/50 game. Yes, we’re at home in front of our own supporters. But we’re playing against a really good team and I truly believe that whoever does progress will have a really good chance of of getting promoted to to the championship and have another tough game in front of them.

Interviewer: Did you expect the game to be as open as it was on Saturday? Because when you watch the other semi-final, it was probably a kind of cagey affair that you expect those first legs to be, but Saturday felt more like a game that both teams really wanted to win.

Dave: Probably in hindsight if you’re looking at the the teams that are involved and how how they play you would have suggested that our game against Leon or would be more open than what Charlton against Wycombe would. That’s not taking anything away from from their game or that or that semi-final. I think if again you have to I suppose you have to put yourself in managers positions. If I’m going into the game as Wycombe’s manager, having lost their last three games and having only two weeks ago been beaten 4-0 at home by Charlton, I’d probably be quite happy with where things where things sit and making that a one-off game. I think you want to be in the game and and however you choose to go about that is your is your your sort of business really based on um the players and their their skill set, I suppose or the way we will try and play and the way will try and play there’ll be a little bit more risk.

CHARLTON’S NATHAN JONES:

Reflecting on the goalless first leg, Jones said: “It was a real hard-fought game and an important one, because we didn’t want to come into the game with a deficit and have to chase anything. We wanted to come in with a minimum of parity and we managed to achieve that. Now we have to win a game at The Valley which is something we’ve been very good at.”

Asked for the latest team news, he said: “No one ever comes through it 100 per cent – everyone comes through with a bruise or a bit of stiffness and tightness. We have that naturally from a game of that intensity, importance and pressure, but we’re in a good place as a squad. To get to this point with the availability rate that we’ve had and do have, we’re content.

“We’re glad to have Chuks back [after his suspension]. We’ve had to suffer three games without him, but he gives us a headache because now he’s available and extremely motivated.”

“We asked them ;the fans] to get behind us and they have. The momentum’s built and the numbers have grown with the songs, the atmosphere, the adrenaline and the energy that they’ve brought. It’s coincided with the team being in a better place, so it’s the chicken and egg scenario.

“They’ve been superb – they’ve travelled in their numbers and really got on board with everything. We’re asking them for, at the moment, one more big effort because they can be vital and a packed, singing, energetic Valley can be a wonderful place to play if you’re a home player.”

WYCOMBE’S MIKE DODDS:

He told the Bucks Free Press: “I’ll be honest, I felt quite deflated after the 3-1 home defeat against Stockport because I’m desperate to do well for the football and the fans.”

On the fans: “I thought they were unbelievable.

“I think I heard them cheer my name near the end of the second half, and it was a real pick-me-up.

“I appreciated that.

“Also, I just wanted to say thank you to the 1887 group who have shown a huge amount of support to me, my team, and the backroom staff.

“I’m hoping to wear a hoody which is representative of them at the football club on Thursday [in the second leg away at Charlton].

“Hopefully, it will be an iconic piece that we hope we will take to Wembley.”

🎤 Mike Dodds gives his thoughts after the first-leg stalemate at Adams Park. pic.twitter.com/aqFuZMgtsl

— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) May 11, 2025