Former Aston Villa and Celtic boss sends play-off warning to Leeds United

Leeds United have been sent a play-off warning by former Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill as they stare down the barrel of the Championship’s showpiece lottery. The Whites still have a chance of securing automatic promotion, but with Ipswich Town only needing four points from games against Coventry City and Huddersfield Town, it looks as though it could be a long shot.

Daniel Farke’s men have been left praying for a Coventry City win on Tuesday night to remain ahead in the race heading into the final day, and they know their most likely destiny is a date with the playoffs, which have not been kind to the club in the past.

Though, as TalkSPORT pundit and former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has pointed out, momentum is hard to come by amongst this season’s Championship playoff teams. “What’s going to be fascinating if Leeds do miss out is that none of the teams in the play-offs spots have got any momentum,” he said.

“Sheffield Wednesday have just spanked West Brom, Southampton have lost their way all of a sudden, Leeds have fallen on their own swords and taken defeat from the jaws of victory. The only one that’s holding water is Norwich.”

New LMA chief O’Neill was a guest on TalkSPORT at the time, and he highlighted that Leeds need to focus on getting their ‘minds set’ if they do end up competing in the playoffs.

“Leeds United a month ago were thinking about automatic promotion. They were on this charge, doing brilliantly, looking as if they could get goals at any given stage. But now they might miss out. If you are so close but miss out, you go into the play-offs on a bit of a downer so you have to get your minds set and go again.”