Leeds United travel to St Andrew’s to face Gianfranco Zola’s Birmingham City on Friday night.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
David Prutton has told Sky Sports that he was impressed by Leeds during their victory over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend and thus, expects Garry Monk’s men to come away from their clash with Birmingham City with all three points on Friday night.
The Whites boosted their play-off hopes considerably as they beat the Owls 1-0 at Elland Road. Leeds are now fourth in the Championship table, eight points clear of seventh place side Fulham with 12 games to go.
And while Gianfranco Zola’s men will also be going into the game off the back of an impressive win – they beat Wolves 2-1 at Molineux last time out – Prutton suggested that their general struggles since the Italian’s arrival makes them incredibly difficult to back.
“It looks suspiciously like an away win for me. Leeds were very good at Sheffield Wednesday last week and they’ve got to be looking for a win here to consolidate their place in the top six,” he told Sky Sports when explaining why he is expecting a 2-0 win for the away side.
Birmingham manager Gianfranco Zola
“Birmingham were solid against Wolves and Gianfranco Zola finally got a win, but fundamentally this league is all about winning regularly and that’s what he’s struggled to do.”
With three of the top five still to play this season, including both of the top two, Monk will know just how important it is that his Leeds side pick up the victories in the games where they are favourites, which they are for this game.
And with the Whites playing the day before the rest of the division, a win will allow them to strike another psychological blow and actually move themselves back onto the periphery of the automatic-promotion race, closing the gap to the top two to seven points.
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