BBC 6/4/10
United boss Simon Grayson targets automatic promotion

Leeds United manager Simon Grayson believes the Whites can still win automatic promotion from League One.

Monday's 2-1 victory at Yeovil means United remain fourth in the table with six games remaining.

Grayson told BBC Radio Leeds: "We've got a group of players that can quite easily go and win seven on the trot.

"We've won one today, we're not getting carried away with it but we know we've got a group of fixtures coming up that we can go and win."

Captain Richard Naylor scored twice at Huish Park to end a run of four successive defeats and reignite hopes of finishing in the top two.
It remains tight at the top of the table, and with all the other teams around them also winning on Monday, Leeds are still two points behind second-placed Swindon Town.

"Today we had a belief and desire to put things right," said Grayson.

"The players are wounded at times when they've underperformed and not got the results.

"It has been tough for them but hopefully it's been a major kick up the backside and now we realise what we need to do.

"I've never criticised my players about anything really, but they're criticising themselves and trying to put right what went wrong over the past four games."



Bradford Telegraph and Argus 5/4/10

Leeds skipper turns goal-scorer to boost promotion bid

Yeovil Town 1, Leeds United 2

Skipper Richard Naylor was the unlikely hero with two first-half goals at Huish Park to rekindle Leeds’ promotion drive.

No-one is more determined than Naylor to see his home city regain Championship status and his experiences over Easter could hardly have been more contrasting.

On Saturday he was substituted for tactical reasons during the 3-0 home defeat against Swindon, yet his two headers in six minutes at Yeovil ended a run of four successive United defeats without a goal.

Naylor’s only previous goal for the club came against Southend in January, 2009, soon after his arrival from Ipswich.

He said: “It’s all to play for and we have enough about us to win promotion. We were determined to turn things around and it was good to get back on to the field so quickly after losing to Swindon.

“As players we had been letting the manager down but we never lost our belief.”

Yeovil striker Dean Bowditch tested Leeds’ nerves by scoring with 23 minutes left but his side could not conjure up an equaliser.

United manager Simon Grayson reacted to the defeat against Swindon by replacing striker Mike Grella and defender Shane Lowry with Max Gradel and Leigh Bromby. Andrew Hughes switched from right back into the problem left-back spot, Bromby filling the right-back vacancy.

Yeovil, defeated 4-0 at Elland Road in October, have never beaten Leeds, who gained a 29th-minute advantage with their first goal in 414 minutes of football.

Neil Kilkenny played a free-kick out wide to Jonny Howson and he hoisted the ball into the goalmouth where keeper Alex McCarthy failed to challenge and Naylor headed into the net.

Jermaine Beckford and the impressive Gradel went close before Naylor headed his second in the 35th minute, following Kilkenny’s corner to the near post.

Naylor almost completed his hat-trick from another corner by Kilkenny two minutes after the break and from an identical build-up just before the hour Naylor’s header was cleared off the line.

Gradel was also a danger to Yeovil’s overworked defence but he was denied a goal when his fierce shot struck McCarthy’s legs.

Yeovil hit back in the 67th minute, much against the run of play, Bowditch giving Naylor the slip before shooting into the bottom corner.

Micky Doyle made a goal-line clearance to prevent an equaliser, following a corner won by lively substitute Andrew Welsh.

Sanchez Watt, on loan from Arsenal, made his debut for Leeds as he and Bradley Johnson replaced Beckford and Kilkenny with two minutes left and Grayson’s men held on for a precious win.

Grayson said: “It was a game we should have won comfortably. We had enough chances to have won two matches.

“It was strange to see big Richard Naylor score two goals but we have been looking for goals from different parts of the pitch and we can be a threat from set-pieces.

“The players have been criticised and put under a lot of pressure. We are not getting carried away after this win but I said to the players before the game that we were capable of winning seven games on the trot. We’ve won one and now we have six more to come.”

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