Ian Holloway has said that he thinks Leeds will miss out on the play-off final, with Derby progressing instead.
Talking on the Jim White Show (Tuesday, 10am, talkSPORT), the former QPR manager said he would be “killed” in his local for saying it but said that the disappointment for Leeds over finishing third would be the key factor in the two-legged tie.
“When I go to my local, I’m going to be killed if I don’t say Leeds – I can’t write them off with the season they’ve had.
“But, if you’re going to put me on the spot, I will go for Derby. Leeds will be disappointed not to have made the top-two and that will go against them.”
OPINION
There seem to be two schools of thought at the moment. One is that the Leeds players won’t be able to lift themselves after missing out on automatic promotion. That seems to be based around the myth that the team finishing third generally doesn’t get promoted, but that’s just not true. The other school of thought is that Leeds will have too much for Derby over two legs and that’s where we are. Leeds have beaten Derby twice this season, including a comprehensive win at Pride Park, and we can’t see Frank Lampard’s side managing to turn that around over two legs. Anything can happen though and it will be interesting to see if Leeds can lift themselves after not only missing out on second, but also after their terrible display against Ipswich on the final day of the season.