Leeds United lost 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
Leeds United boss Garry Monk has told the Yorkshire Evening Post that he thinks dropping out of the top six could actually help the club in the final weeks of the season.
The Whites lost 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in a shock defeat on Monday afternoon, with Nouha Dicko’s first-half goal handing the visitors all three points at Elland Road.
Results elsewhere went against Leeds, as fourth placed Reading beat Rotherham United 2-1, whilst Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham both picked up wins to leapfrog Leeds, dropping Monk’s men down to seventh place.
Now outside of the play-off places and looking in, Leeds have dropped out of the top six at the worst possible time, with just three Championship games left to go before the play-offs begin.
Leeds still have a favourable run-in, with a home game against Norwich City sandwiched between away trips to Burton Albion and Wigan Athletic, but the biggest bonus for the Whites is that Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham play each other on the final day of the season, meaning the pair can’t win every game for the rest of the season.
Leeds have to be ready to pounce in that case, as having sat in the top six for the majority of the season, it would be a shame to see all Monk’s hard work putting Leeds in with a shout of promotion to the Premier League go to waste.
After Monday’s defeat to Wolves, manager Monk spoke to the Yorkshire Evening Post about the situation, and suggested that it could actually help Leeds in being out of the top six right now.
Leeds manager Garry Monk
Monk claims that chasing points brings a different kind of pressure to looking to protect a place in the play-off places, and he remains ‘more than confident’ that his players will bounce back and get back into the top six.
“Here we go,” said Monk. “This is the interesting part. We’ve spent so long in there with a points advantage and now we don’t have that. We don’t have that luxury any more. Now we have to go on the hunt and sometimes it’s easier with less pressure on you when you’re on the hunt. When you’re in (the top six) it’s maybe a different pressure but we’ve got to take care of our own business and these are the three biggest games of our lives.”
“We have to approach them in that way. We’ve had the mentality for so long where we’ve been in the play-offs quite comfortably – in that protecting mode of trying to stay there. Now we have to change that mentality to a team who go on the hunt. There’ll be a lot of talking outside about the situation and that’s fine. We take it on the chin. But I’m more than confident. There’s not a massive gap or anything like that. We’re right in there and it’s still a really good situation for us,” he added.
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