Eddie Gray believes that Leeds United have got to be looking at a top-six finish following their brilliant start to the new campaign.
The Whites have made a great beginning to the season under new manager Thomas Christiansen and are unbeaten in their opening six league games.
The Yorkshire giants are second in the league table ahead of their home clash against Birmingham on Tuesday night.
They have accumulated 14 points from their first six league matches and have recorded a staggering five consecutive clean sheets, which has coincided with Pontus Jansson’s return to the starting XI.
Whites legend Gray states that his former side must be expecting a top-six finish this season.
“I think the expectation for Leeds United is always the top six,” Gray told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show on talkSPORT. “When you look at the start we’ve made, the players we’ve bought in and they’ve all fitted in very well, you’ve got to be looking at the top six. The expectation levels have been up since the start of the season.”
Leeds are certainly looking to be in the promotion picture this season and some optimistic fans may even be targeting automatic promotion.
The Whites missed out on the play-off positions narrowly in the last campaign under Garry Monk, but look re-born this season with a new manager.
They have managed to find a defensive resilience that is proving formidable, while also scoring goals much more freely despite the sale of striker Chris Wood to Burnley.
OPINION
Leeds certainly must finish in the top six this year or the season will be deemed a failure. They look a stronger outfit than last season and have the players at their disposal to secure promotion. The Whites need to continue their brilliant start to the campaign and try to assert themselves in the top-two of the table. They would settle for a place in the play-offs, but automatic promotion surely has to be the aim. Most promotion winning sides are built on a strong defence and that is certainly the case at Elland Road this season.