Richard Naylor insists Leeds’ form will not have biggest impact on promotion hopes if they reach play-offs

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Richard Naylor was part of the Leeds United side that secured promotion to the Championship in 2010.

Leeds United’s Richard Naylor

Richard Naylor has insisted that Leeds’ form heading into the play-offs will not be the main determining factor that decides whether they will secure promotion or not, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

With the international break now coming to an end, Garry Monk will be ramping up his preparations for the Whites’ trip to Reading this weekend, knowing that a victory against their fellow promotion chasers would surely see Leeds put one foot into the play-offs.

One player who knows all about the vastly contrasting emotions to come out of the play-offs is former Whites skipper Naylor. He was a part of the Ipswich Town side that won promotion to the Premier League in 2000 by beating Barnsley at Wembley, and featured in the Leeds team that could not make it past the League One semi-final in 2009 before they secured automatic promotion one season later.

And Naylor has suggested that being lucky with injuries is more important to Leeds than being the in-form team going into the additional games if they make it there.

Leeds United players celebrate

“It’s never a bad thing taking form into the play-offs,” he said, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, “but keeping everyone fit is probably a bigger deal. If that’s where Leeds end up, something as small as a little injury to Chris Wood at the wrong time could be the difference.

“Previous results don’t help you in the play-offs but big players do. I’ll be hoping they get there and hoping they do it.”

Leeds United manager Garry Monk

What appears to have been clear from the start of Monk’s tenure is that there tends to be no resting of players for a future game when they are ready for the next one.

He has shown that he is capable of making brutal selection decisions – he dropped Pontus Jansson for Liam Cooper ahead of the vital Brighton clash before the break – and he may feel that having momentum could be more important, especially if he manages the squad properly to make sure the key men peak at the right time.