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Wilkinson: Leeds will get promoted this season

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Former Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson has heaped praise on current boss Marcelo Bielsa and has stated that Leeds will go on and win promotion this season.

Wilkinson was talking at an SJD Sports event called “The Class of ’92” on Thursday night when he was asked what he made of Bielsa.

“I do watch the Championship quite a lot now,” Wilkinson said, “and I see most teams trying to play like Man City, but they’ve got no Messi and no Ronaldo, and that’s why anyone can beat anyone.

“This guy [Bielsa] doesn’t play like Man City, he wants to play like he thinks his team can play and according to the strengths of the players.

“They’re not a million miles away but I can’t see it crumbling or falling apart. He doesn’t seem to be flaky, he seems to me that he will stick to his guns.

“The players, from what i’ve seen of the team know their jobs, and barring a couple of bad decisions or injuries, he won’t like me saying this, but I think they’ll do it.”

OPINION

Bielsa can take a huge step towards the Premier League by beating Sheffield United on Saturday in what is the game of the season so far in the Championship. Three points would put them five clear of their rivals in third and while there’s a long way to go, they’d need to mess up quite spectacularly in the following eight games to miss out. You can’t overstate how important this is to Leeds – the club and the fans. It’s not just getting back to the top-flight, it could be about keeping hold of Andrea Radrizzani and Marcelo Bielsa – both could possibly leave if Leeds don’t win promotion. Leeds have been on top of the Championship for longer than any other team this season, but Norwich are currently flying at the top and scoring goals for fun. Fans won’t care about coming second, though, as long as they go up. Bielsa will like what Wilkinson, a Leeds legend, has said about him, but he won’t be calling promotion just yet. At his press conference on Thursday he said when he looks at the table all he sees is a lot of games to go.    

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