Leeds are locked in a four-way race to finish inside the top two this season, with Southampton dragging themselves back into contention with their recent form.
It comes alongside the top three failing to win in the last two, and picking up just one win in the last nine between them.
Leicester centre-back Conor Coady has admitted that it’s impossible for him not to watch other clubs in this promotion mix, even if the general consensus in the media from the clubs is that they keep focus on their own task.
He spoke on BBC Radio 5 Live about the tension of the promotion race, in which he says he prays that Leeds, Ipswich and Southampton stumble each week:
“Whether I should or shouldn’t do it, I look at the other results. You’re hoping they’ve lost if you’ve won to gain a bit of ground or bridge a gap.
“I’d be silly if I sat here now and said I don’t look at any results. It’s the first thing you do. You can have managers or people around you telling you not to check on it. But it’s the first thing you do.
“When they’re on the telly, you watch them and you’re praying they drop points. It’s a natural thing to do.
“But you’ve got to curb it and make sure you’re doing your job when it comes to training and playing.
“The last couple of weeks with Leicester, we’ve had a tough time. We’ve spoken as a team about the results we’ve had.
“We can’t concentrate on anybody else, we can’t affect what anybody else is doing, so we’ve looked at ourselves and said: ‘It’s us and that’s it.’”
Coady knows all about the Championship promotion race, having won the league title with Wolves back in 17/18 under Nuno Espirito Santo.
However, he could have ended up a Leeds player if he’d have made a different decision when leaving Liverpool back in 2014/15, instead joining West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town.
His form there earned him a move to Wolves further down the line, helping them to the Premier League before joining Everton on loan, and then sealing a permanent Leicester move in the summer of 2023.
is right to essentially lift the mask a bit here, suggesting it’s natural to want other teams to slip up in the promotion race.
niel Farke has been very eager to snuff out talk of hoping for favours elsewhere, but he will definitely be keeping an eye on Leicester’s home clash with West Brom this weekend.
We just have to hope that Carlos Corberan is in the mood to do his former Leeds side a favour on Saturday.
