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Defeat to Preston North End in Leeds United’s next fixture can’t be an option

Leeds United's Kyle Bartley and Leeds United's Luke Ayling (R) look dejected (REUTERS)
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The Whites have lost their last two matches and are in slight danger of losing their play off spot.

Leeds United's Kemar Roofe looks dejectedLeeds United’s Kemar Roofe looks dejected

Heading to Brentford was always going to be a tough fixture for Leeds United, but the 2-0 defeat at Griffin Park has put extra importance on their next fixture – a home tie against play-off chasing Preston North End.

Leeds still have a fairly comfortable cushion in the sense that they are five points clear of seventh placed Fulham and eight clear of Preston – managed by former Leeds boss Simon Grayson – but a third loss in a row to North End could have detrimental consequences.

With just six games to play, you can forgive a few Leeds fans for looking enviously at Reading, who are nine clear of Fulham and seem to be finalising their play-off spot by doing it the easy way – Leeds on the other hand, seem to be putting their fans through the proverbial wringer and conjuring up many ‘what if’ scenarios.

Slightly worryingly for Garry Monk’s side is that it’s now two games without a goal for top scorer Chris Wood, and it seems that whenever Wood doesn’t score, Leeds don’t score either.

Nottingham Forests' Chris Cohen in action with Leeds United's Chris WoodNottingham Forests’ Chris Cohen in action with Leeds United’s Chris Wood

The concern now for the Whites is that teams may have sussed out how Monk’s side is set up – similar to how the Premier League clocked onto how Swansea were playing while Monk was in charge there, an observation which saw Swansea plummet down the table.

However, it’s too early to be hitting the panic button just yet for Leeds fans – they are still in a very good position after all – but if victory isn’t achieved over Preston, one or two fans might be pressing it at a fairly frantic pace.