A 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday hasn’t changed the fact that Leeds United are a firm contender to get automatic promotion to the Premier League this season. The loss was a hiccup but Daniel Farke’s side will be expected to bounce back in the games coming up.
Leeds sit third in the Championship standings and are very much part of the conversation for automatic promotion. The Whites are keen to ensure that they do not repeat the mistakes from last season when they missed out on finishing in the top two and were beaten by Southampton in the playoff final.
The Whites have the entire week to prepare for the next game when they will host Derby County at Elland Road in a Championship fixture on Saturday.
The Rams are in a poor run of form and are without a win in their last four games. Derby lost their previous two league fixtures and Leeds are heavy favourites to get all three points from the encounter at home.
Facing Leeds might just suit us, says Derby star
Derby are going into the game as massive underdogs given Leeds are promotion contenders while the Rams are facing the prospect of getting sucked into the relegation dogfight due to their current form.
The away side will be in desperate need of a result but Derby star Kane Wilson has stressed that Leeds could be the perfect team to face for his side.
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He stressed that given no one expects them to get anything at Leeds, there is no pressure on Derby and the game at Elland Road is a free hit for them.
“I’m looking forward to it. It will be a great opportunity to go and try to get a result”, Wilson said.
“Maybe we need it. It’s one where we’re not expected to get a result by people, so it might be a bit of a free hit. We always go to win, but being the underdogs can help.
“They’re up there fighting for promotion. It might be what we need at the moment. We understand we’ve got a tough run of games. Today was a big one, but we have to pick ourselves up. We can’t rest on our laurels.”
Leeds hope to avoid slipping up against a potential banana skin next weekend and get the three points they want from the game.
