Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones discuss the run-in for Leeds United.
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00:00Dan, looking at Leeds United in terms of the run-in in their sort of race
00:05to make sure they do go up automatically, whether that's winning the league
00:09or in second place, you know, the gap between the top three
00:14and the playoffs is so tight again and there's this run-in now
00:17and a lot of Leeds fans you feel might be thinking the worst after last season,
00:22you know, obviously going through the playoffs and inevitably failing
00:25and remaining in the championship.
00:26They don't want that to be the case.
00:28They want to avoid the playoffs due to their record in the playoffs
00:31not being too positive.
00:34How do you sort of look at them going forward?
00:36What are the key factors to them making sure they do get over the line?
00:40Because, you know, sometimes when it comes to these run-ins,
00:44Leeds have been known to slightly falter, to slightly let the occasion
00:48get the better of them and inevitably fall into those playoffs
00:51and then, you know, overly stay in the championship.
00:54It's certainly something they want to avoid.
00:56So, what are the key factors to it?
00:58How do you see it going in terms of Daniel Farker's side
01:01and making sure that they are there or thereabouts in terms of the race
01:05when, you know, there's not many weeks to go here?
01:08As you say there, it is consistency that is key because for last season,
01:12as you rightly mentioned, they were consistent for the majority of the season.
01:16In fact, they actually won a lot of games against the teams that actually went up
01:20in Leicester City and have switched town and yet towards the end of the season,
01:25in the April and May months, a few really poor results.
01:28Queen's Park Rangers 4-0 away from home springs to mind, for example.
01:32And they just started to lose their way and come undone a little bit.
01:38And ultimately, it cost them automatic promotion.
01:41So, this season, they've, of course, got to learn from that, be consistent.
01:45And as long as they win their home games and then if they get draws away from home,
01:51well, realistically, actually, they need to be winning away from home as well.
01:54It's actually probably as simple as just keep winning.
01:57And I know that's a lot easier said than done, but that is just the way it is in the championship
02:03because, of course, you've got two other teams in Sheffield United and Burnley
02:06who will probably also keep winning for the majority of the games.
02:09Yes, of course, the other two, they lost most recently.
02:12Sheffield United losing quite disappointingly to Millwall in their most recent outing
02:16and Burnley drawing away at Derby.
02:18So, that was a bit of a turnip for the books.
02:20But for the majority of the games that remain, those two will pick up maximum points.
02:24And it's just about, from Leeds' point of view, matching them.
02:27And if they don't, well, it'll be the playoffs and no one wants the playoffs for Leeds
02:31because, of course, they have a dreadful record in the playoffs.
02:34They never seem to win them at all.
02:36Of course, last season got to the final against Southampton
02:38and it was a 1-0 loss at Wembley for the Whites.
02:42So, they want to avoid that by any means possible this time.
02:45And even if it means coming second, I think they would take that
02:47as long as they go up automatically.
02:49They just don't want to be in those third to sixth place
02:52and have to go through the lottery that is the playoffs.
02:55Leeds have got certainly the attacking talent to go and win all the games
02:58that they have remaining.
02:59It's just whether they do so.
03:02And it is about having just that little bit of bottle as well.
03:05I know it sounds a bit crude, but it's true.
03:08Leeds have lacked that at times when they've been trying to get up.
03:11And if they can somehow muster the courage and the spirit to have that bottle
03:15and to not be too worried about what might happen
03:19and just play with the confidence, the freedom they've played for the majority
03:21of the season, they'll be absolutely fine.
03:23But whether Daniel Falker can get his team to just be calm
03:27and to learn from the lessons of last season,
03:29because if they don't, then you have to worry about them.
03:32Yeah, just looking at the top three, it's obviously been a very tight race.
03:35It was last season as well.
03:38Leeds, Burnley, Sheffield United, they've chopped and changed a lot.
03:41Burnley have slowly crept, only losing two games all season,
03:43obviously beating Leeds, taking four points off Leeds.
03:46Leeds have taken six points off Sheffield United.
03:51They've taken four points off Sunderland.
03:54They've been good in around there.
03:55But in terms of those top three, who's sort of been a standout for you
03:58in terms of the likelihood to really get the job done now in this running?
04:04I think if you look from an attacking sense, you can't look past Leeds
04:06because they are the Championship's top scorers, best goal difference,
04:09probably have the most quality in attacking areas as well.
04:12And if you look defensively, you can't look past Burnley.
04:14They've conceded under 15 goals this season in the Championship.
04:19And defensively, they've been solid as houses.
04:22So you've got to look at it from that point of view.
04:24And you've got Sheffield United, who are actually just a bit of both.
04:29They're not sort of the masters of either, but they're so consistent
04:32in the sense that they just keep on picking enough points to be right up there.
04:35And also, they've been deducted two points.
04:37So really, they could be ahead of them both.
04:39So it's not many games to go now, but Leeds have just got to be consistent.
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