The difference between the two seasons is like night and day for Leeds fans.
Chris Wood of Leeds United reacts after a missed chance
Leeds United fans have plenty of reason to be cheerful heading into the final eight fixtures of the season, with the Whites sitting pretty in fourth position – eight points clear of seventh placed Fulham.
You only need to go back to this stage last season however, to find a completely different story. Leeds, then under Steve Evans, were a world away from where Garry Monk has United this season.
This season, Leeds went into the final stretch by defeating automatic promotion hopefuls Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 – last year, they’d been defeated 2-1 to former manager Neil Warnock’s Rotherham United.
That result left them a whopping 17 points behind sixth placed Derby County, and 10 ahead of 22nd placed MK Dons, leaving Evans’ Leeds sitting in 14th position – comfortably in mid-table, but no danger to the promotion hopefuls that year.
Leeds United manager Steve Evans (R)
Even top scorer Chris Wood was having a rough time of things, with the New Zealand international amassing eight goals by this stage last season – by contrast, he currently has 24 Championship goals this campaign.
Leeds finished the season with 59 points – they currently have 69. In every single aspect, this year has been a major improvement for the Whites, so even if they fail to get promoted, they can take solace from that.
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