Leeds simply must beat Birmingham

It is only mid October but, even this early, the game at home to Birmingham is a must win match. In truth, automatic promotion is already an impossible dream, with a gap of 9 points to the club in third and 12 to the top two. Okay, Burnley may burn out, but your money would then be on either Leicester or Nottingham Forest to join QPR in the top two; and that's before you factor in Watford, Reading and maybe Wigan, once Europe is out of the way.

But the playoffs remain a possibility. Blackpool are average, the younger Ince apart, and Burnley will probably finish closer to eighth in the table than first. So there are still two places to fight for.

Some will argue that it is foolish to make predictions so early in the season but I'm happy to be taken to task if QPR, Forest, Leicester and Watford don't fill four of the top 6 places. So who are the contenders for the other two places?

The Wally with the Brolly may take Derby on a run; Blackpool have points in the bank; Burnley have more; Reading are more than decent by Championship standards; player by player, Blackburn should be strong enough for the top six; with Europe out of the way, you would expect some sort of Wigan charge; and Ipswich have as good a chance as Leeds.

But if Leeds are going to compete, that 6 point gap to sixth place can't grow any wider. The away form isn't great, so the home games simply have to be won, especially against teams that sit even lower than Leeds in the table.

The trouble is, Birmingham aren't as bad as their league position suggests, and even if Leeds dominate possession, there is no guarantee that goals will be scored. The failure to recruit over the international break  has simply focused everybody's minds - even the Yapping Post - on the lack of creativity in the team.

Unfortunately, the Birmingham game is televised so Elland Road is likely to be half empty again. Yorkshiremen aren't going to forgo the KFC Family Bucket for a game that can be watched on the box. And come Sunday afternoon, the gap to sixth and to the top two could be still wider, making the game seem somewhat irrelevant.

McDermott needed to make a loan signing to get the fans on board and, of course, he may yet do so. But so far it is the same old talk of "frustration" and now of "hurt". A win on Sunday could be the perfect balm, but a draw or defeat would pour acid into the already festering wound.

My prediction? 1-1.