LEEDS were ten points clear of third place in the Championship on Christmas Day and looked on course for a return to the Premier League.
Just 45 days later that gap has gone.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds are struggling at the momentCredit: Rex Features
The 2-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Saturday was Leeds’ fourth defeat in five matches.
There are worrying echoes of last season, when they imploded and then missed out in the play-offs.
Leeds will drop out of the automatic promotion spots if they lose at Brentford tomorrow.
Right-back Luke Ayling knows the Whites have to set their season to zero tomorrow — after admitting to a “bad, bad run”.
The 28-year-old said: “The manager works his socks off off the pitch and sends us out to win a game.
“But us boys ain’t winning the game. It’s a team effort, it’s nobody’s fault in particular. It’s the players that are out there but it’s the whole club that is losing.
The Forest players and fans celebrate Tyler Walker’s clinching goalCredit: Rex Features
“It’s not one player, we’ve got a 24-man squad, the coaching staff — it’s all of us.
“There wasn’t much said in that dressing room, we were way off it.
“Same old story. The first goal killed us.
“Now we have a huge game on Tuesday.
“This won’t get swept under the carpet but I think it’s now about making sure the group’s together and going again at Brentford.
“It’ll be a good time to get any win — there’s not any place we want to win more or less.
“The fans will be hurting as well, it’s a bad, bad run of form.
“It’s about scrapping now. We’re still second and it’s about starting from zero.
“I don’t think our squad has got to change, we’ve got a settled way that we play. We’ll stick by that and try to do things the right way, winning games the way we want to.”
The slump prompted owner Andrea Radrizzani to post a message of support for Bielsa and his team on Twitter.
He tweeted: “I understand your frustration but I have seen a big effort.
“We are second, 15 games to go, best result the club has ever had since it was relegated. I believe in our players, manager and our loyal fans. Until the end.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
