JUST PLAY!
By PAUL DEWS
Yorkshire Evening Post
FORGET the maths! That will be Leeds United boss Kevin Blackwell's message to his players when they bring the curtain down on their league campaign at Preston tomorrow.
United head for Deepdale knowing a draw or a win will assure them a fourth place finish in the Championship and almost certainly guarantee a play-off semi-final showdown against the same opponents.But Watford and Crystal Palace are also in the play-off mix and tomorrow's results will finally decide who plays who, and when.
Leeds boss Blackwell said: "The odds are that we'll play Preston again, but there are so many different permutations.
"If we win and Watford lose we could finish third. If we win and Palace win, they could finish fifth, and if we lose and Palace win we could finish fifth or even sixth.
"As it stands we could play any one of the three sides in there, and finish anywhere in the top six. But whatever happens, happens – we can't affect what happens elsewhere. We'll probably keep an eye on the other scores and see how things pan out, but all we can really do is look after ourselves."
Because of the fluid nature of the play-off picture and the likelihood that Leeds will play Preston again over two legs, Blackwell is loathe to give too much away tomorrow at Deepdale.
"I think both of us will be looking to keep our powder dry," said Blackwell. "I want to see a solid performance and see us come through unscathed. It is strange because the odds would say that we're likely to play the same team again twice in the space of four days next week. It's incredible that you go through a full season and this is how it ends up – with three games in just over a week. It's a freak."
By PAUL DEWS
Yorkshire Evening Post
FORGET the maths! That will be Leeds United boss Kevin Blackwell's message to his players when they bring the curtain down on their league campaign at Preston tomorrow.
United head for Deepdale knowing a draw or a win will assure them a fourth place finish in the Championship and almost certainly guarantee a play-off semi-final showdown against the same opponents.But Watford and Crystal Palace are also in the play-off mix and tomorrow's results will finally decide who plays who, and when.
Leeds boss Blackwell said: "The odds are that we'll play Preston again, but there are so many different permutations.
"If we win and Watford lose we could finish third. If we win and Palace win, they could finish fifth, and if we lose and Palace win we could finish fifth or even sixth.
"As it stands we could play any one of the three sides in there, and finish anywhere in the top six. But whatever happens, happens – we can't affect what happens elsewhere. We'll probably keep an eye on the other scores and see how things pan out, but all we can really do is look after ourselves."
Because of the fluid nature of the play-off picture and the likelihood that Leeds will play Preston again over two legs, Blackwell is loathe to give too much away tomorrow at Deepdale.
"I think both of us will be looking to keep our powder dry," said Blackwell. "I want to see a solid performance and see us come through unscathed. It is strange because the odds would say that we're likely to play the same team again twice in the space of four days next week. It's incredible that you go through a full season and this is how it ends up – with three games in just over a week. It's a freak."