Soccer-Sleeping giant Sheffield Wednesday waking up, says Carvalhal

May 17 (Reuters) - Sheffield Wednesday are a sleeping giant who have been woken up, manager Carlos Carvalhal said after his side took a step closer to the Premier League with a 3-1 aggregate win in the play-off semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion. The Owls managed to protect their two-goal advantage from the first leg after securing a 1-1 draw against Brighton on Monday and are now only a match away from a return to England's top-flight after a 16-year absence. "We know we are making history at the club -- it's been a long time since Sheffield Wednesday have achieved this type of success. It is very important to the club," Carvalhal told British media. "The self-confidence of the club is much higher this season. The club was sleeping and we have woken up the giant. The final is something that we deserve but it's not finished yet." Carvalhal's side will be at Wembley on May 28 to face Hull City or Derby County, with the former leading 3-0 ahead of Tuesday's home return leg, for a promotion which could be worth up to 170 million pounds ($245.74 million). Brighton manager Chris Hughton heaped praise on his players as they finished third in the Championship, 15 points ahead of sixth-placed Wednesday, and urged them to use the setback as motivation for next campaign. "They were never out of that top six and in that top three for most of the season and what they have got to do is use this as inspiration," Hughton said. "Finishing so many points clear of sixth place, it's tough but that's how it is, but they will be better players for it and more experienced for it." This was Brighton's third Championship play-off semi-final defeat in four years as their bid to return to the top flight for the first time since the 1982-83 season continues. ($1 = 0.6918 pounds) (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)