Leeds United booked their ticket to Wembley for the final of the Championship play-offs after they beat Norwich City 4-0 on Thursday night.
The Whites produced a masterclass of a performance at Elland Road as they thumped the Canaries in Yorkshire to win 4-0 on aggregate.
Daniel Farke's side had drawn 0-0 with Norwich at Carrow Road in the first leg last Sunday, which left it all to play for heading into Thursday's big showdown.
Leeds were the only team to show up on the night, though, as they found themselves 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and ran out comfortable 4-0 winners overall.
There were a host of impressive performers across the park, as Joel Piroe, Ilia Gruev, Crysencio Summerville, and Georginio Rutter all got on the scoresheet, and Illan Meslier made a huge save from Josh Sargent at 2-0.
One player who has made himself undroppable ahead of the showpiece event at Wembley later this month is centre-forward Joel Piroe, who has not been a guaranteed starter in recent weeks.
Joel Piroe's inconsistent game time for Leeds
Ahead of the second leg clash, the Dutch striker had only started three of the club's previous 13 league matches – coming off the bench ten times.
Patrick Bamford, who missed the semi-final games with a patella tendon injury, and Rutter had been preferred to him at times as Farke usually kept him to bring on as a substitute in matches during that period.
However, Piroe has had his fair share of starts over the course of the entire campaign, with 31 starts in his 45 Championship appearances during the regular season.
Wilfried Gnonto
5.47
8
+2.53
Dan James
10.66
13
+2.34
Joel Piroe
12.95
14
+1.05
Liam Cooper
0.37
1
+0.63
Connor Roberts
0.39
1
+0.61
As you can see in the table above, the left-footed sensation has been one of the best finishers within the squad in the league this season, with 14 goals from 12.95 xG.
This shows that he has been largely effective in front of goal and has not wasted too many high-quality chances to find the back of the net for the Whites.
However, his finishing was not enough to land him a regular spot in the run-in towards the end of the regular season in the Championship, as shown by his three starts in 13 games ahead of the clash on Thursday.
Why Joel Piroe is now undroppable for the play-off final
Despite his lack of starts, the 24-year-old star must now be considered to be undroppable ahead of the trip to Wembley towards the end of May for the play-off final.
His performance against Norwich at Elland Road should be enough to have nailed down a starting spot for the Whites in London, as he produced a fantastic display.
The Yorkshire Evening Press' Graham Smyth awarded him a terrific player rating of 8/10 for his showing on Thursday, writing that the forward was always a 'threat' to the Canaries defence throughout the evening.
As per Smyth's comment, Piroe was a constant nuisance to the opposition with his movement and positioning off the ball to generate chances for himself, along with his excellent link-up play in possession.
His goal came from him peeling off the back of Shane Duffy to find himself free in the box, which allowed the striker to head past Angus Gunn from Wilfried Gnonto's sensational cross to the back post.
Along with his goal, Piroe produced another two shots on target – as he regularly tested Gunn – and had a big impact on the game on the ball, despite having fewer touches (27) than goalkeeper Meslier (37).
The former Swansea star completed 80% of his attempted passes and made two key passes, which shows that he was reliable in possession and looked to make things happen for his fellow attackers, rather than being selfish and solely focused on working his own opportunities.
He did lose three of his five duels, and lost 62% of his battles in the regular Championship season, but Farke may be able to excuse the lightweight nature of his performance given what he was able to do on the ball.
His quality in the final third was on full display, with his excellent header and impressive chance creation for his teammates, and that is why Piroe must now be undroppable for the final at Wembley.
The alternatives to Joel Piroe in the play-off final
Farke does have a plethora of options to choose from to make up his attack for the huge promotion-deciding game later this month.
In the first leg of the semi-finals at Carrow Road, the German boss opted to play Archie Gray in a number ten role with Rutter up front and it failed badly, with Football Insider handing the former a dismal match rating of 1/10.
20-year-old marksman Mateo Joseph is also an option for the manager to call upon if needed but it seems incredibly unlikely that he would do so barring a string of injuries.
The academy graduate made 20 appearances as a substitute, with zero starts, in the regular Championship season and came off the bench in one of the two clashes with Norwich in the play-offs.
It would, therefore, be a shock for Farke to hand him a start in the final at Wembley with no prior league starts to his name in a Whites shirt.
Patrick Bamford could, however, come into consideration if he is able to recover from the patella tendon injury that kept him out against Norwich.
The former England international started 15 of his 33 appearances during the Championship season, and chipped in with eight goals from 9.52 xG.
This shows that, unlike Piroe, the experienced forward has let the team down at times with his wasteful finishing, as he underperformed against the quality of chances that were created for him.
He has also scored one goal in his last seven matches for Leeds, which shows that the striker is not heading into the final in good form.
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Therefore, Piroe, based on his performance on Thursday, is the best option to lead the line for the Whites and that is why he should be undroppable for the Wembley showpiece.