South Africa's Lars Veldwijk admitted that Sparta Rotterdam deserved their promotion to the Dutch Eredivisie after showing their fighting spirit and resilience.
Hendrikus Fraser's side bounced back from 2-1 loss from the first leg to defeat De Graafschap 2-0 at the Stadion De Vijverberg on Tuesday to secure the final promotion ticket to the Dutch top-flight with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Veldwijk previously led Excelsior to the Eredivisie in the 2013-14 season and is now reveling in his second success with the Castle Lords.
"We fought for it all year round. People had written us off, but we knew this was going to happen," Veldwijk said, per Voetbal Zone.