Sheffield United and Luton Town have qualified for the Championship playoffs, defeating Middlesbrough and Millwall, who had a chance to finish in the top six on the final day of the regular season.

Meanwhile, Huddersfield clinched third place with a 2-0 win over Bristol City, while Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 at Hull.

Forest thought to have seized third place with Brennan Johnson’s stoppage-time penalty against the Tigers, but Keane Lewis-Potter’s equalizer two minutes later denied Steve Cooper’s side.

“We go into the playoffs feeling extremely good about ourselves,” Cooper said, despite the late heartbreak. We hoped to finish third, but coming from last place in the league to fourth is fantastic.

“You have to be enthusiastic about it.”

“We gave automatic [promotion] a solid shot and, by doing so, we clinched a playoff berth with three or four games remaining. It’s an incredible accomplishment that demonstrates how good these players have been.”

If Forest had kept out Hull’s late equalizer, they would have finished ahead of Huddersfield on goal differential.

However, goals from Harry Toffolo and Danny Ward in the Terriers’ win over Bristol City were enough to secure third place.

Fulham were promoted to the Premier League as champions despite losing 4-0 to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, while Bournemouth overcame Millwall 1-0 at Vitality Stadium thanks to Kieffer Moore winner.

Forest will face Sheffield United in the playoffs, while Huddersfield will face Luton in the two-legged semi-finals, which will take place from May 13-17.

On Sunday, May 29, the final will be held at Wembley Stadium.

Luton’s 1-0 win over Reading at Kenilworth Road puts them five points clear of seventh-placed Boro, who were thrashed 4-1 by Preston North End at Deepdale, with Emil Jakobsen scoring twice and Alan Browne and Dael Fry also scoring for the hosts.

Harry Cornick’s opportunistic goal, which he scored after lurking behind Reading goalkeeper rjan Nyland as he prepared to clear downfield, made the difference for the Hatters, but with other results going their way, a draw or defeat would have seen them qualify for the playoffs.

“I’m glad we didn’t rely on anyone else because we would have lost the game and it would have been a letdown.”

“We had to do it ourselves,” said Nathan Jones, the Luton manager.

“To get to 75 points, as we projected, is a fantastic Championship season, and success for us realistically means avoiding relegation.”

“We might have a chance to exit the league, but from a different end.”

Morgan Gibbs-White, Iliman Ndiaye, and Sander Berge put Sheffield United 3-0 up at halftime, before Enda Stevens added a fourth after the interval to give Fulham a notable hangover after winning the league title.

Blackburn’s 2-1 away win over Birmingham City put them ahead of Millwall on goal difference in eighth place.

After halftime, John Buckley and Ben Brereton placed Rovers 2-0 up, Kristian Pedersen gave Birmingham hope with 12 minutes left.

West Bromwich Albion thrashed Barnsley 4-0 thanks to Karlan Grant’s double.

Eight minutes before halftime, Grant scored a penalty, then Adam Reach and Matthew Clarke added the second and third goals, respectively.

Grant, however, was denied a hat-trick opportunity when Jack Walton saved his second spot-kick on 69 minutes.

Derby, Peterborough, and Barnsley had already been relegated to League One, with an eight-point difference between Derby and Reading in 22nd and 21st respectively.