Blackburn v Leeds. The Big Shoot Out For Last Play Off Place

Make no mistake, this game is huge. Warnock was cock a hoop after the Blackpool game as Leeds closed the gap on sixth placed Middlesbrough to six points, but the Smoggies are irrelevant: their form is so poor they won't finish in the top six regardless of current placings. The clubs potentially competing for the last available place are Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn and Leeds.

 

Of that quartet, Brighton are in the box seat, but as West Ham illustrated last season, the Seagulls have a soft underbelly and as the pressure mounts, so Poyet's boys will be found wanting. Forest under old warhorse Billy Davies will be well and truly charged up after their hammering of Huddersfield and could yet bully their way into sixth spot as style is sidelined in the name of pragmatism. But like Leeds, Forest have to learn how to win away from home if they are to mount a sustained challenge over the last third of the season.

 

Blackburn have the best squad but Appleton is a novice compared with Davies and Warnock, and with the distraction of the FA Cup, may struggle to keep his players focused.

 

Which suddenly brings Leeds into the equation. Warnock asked for three games to change the world and he won the first of them. Now comes a big test. Get a result at Blackburn - and if Brighton win, Leeds really need three points - and everybody will start to believe that a late charge could yet see the Whites into the play offs; lose and everybody will mutter about yet another false dawn and GFH Capital will face renewed pressure to jettison Warnock.

 

This has to be Leeds' biggest game of the season. Forget Everton, forget Spurs, forget Southampton, this is the big one. If Warnock pulls this off, he could yet earn his statue outside Elland Road!