HEAVEN OR ELL
Former Leeds boss Gray believes next two home games are key to club’s Premier League battle to beat the dreaded drop
LEEDS have been set a safety target of winning their last two home games.
Elland Road legend Eddie Gray managed Leeds when they were last relegated from the Premier League in 2004 and reckons they will survive if they can get six more points.
Jesse Marsch’s side have slipped into the bottom three and Gray believes their next two matches at Elland Road against Chelsea tomorrow and Brighton on Sunday will decide their fate.
He is convinced Leeds will be safe if they can win both to reach the magic 40-point mark.
“If I look at it with my white hat on, I think they’ll be OK,” he said.
“But if you look at it from the outside, it’s going to be tough.
“If they win their two home games coming up, they’ll probably survive.
“That would give you 40 points and if you went down with that total, that would be a disaster.
“When you’re in a battle to stay up, the home games are important. We’ve got these two coming up and we’ve got to make the most of them.
“The crowd have been fantastic. The atmosphere at Elland
Road this season has been as good as I’ve known it and the players have got to use that in a positive way.”
Beating Chelsea and Brighton is a big ask for Leeds and they have won just four of their 17 Premier League matches at Elland
Road this season.
Luke Ayling is banned for the run-in because of his stupid red card in Sunday’s defeat at Arsenal, while Stuart Dallas, Adam Forshaw and Tyler
Roberts have long-term injuries and Patrick Bamford is still not back.
“By Luke’s own admission it was a rash challenge and you’re not blaming anyone else for that,” said the Scot. “Stuart’s an important part of our team wherever he plays and with Luke getting sent off, Stuart would have played at rightback.
“His injury makes it even more difficult. When you are in a position like this, and I know this from 2004, things seem to go against you.
“The funny thing about it is, the run we’ve been on hasn’t been too bad. “It’s just that Burnley have come up with a few results, as they seem
to do every year, and Everton have started winning.”
As bleak as the outlook is for Leeds, Gray claims it is not as bad as 18 years ago.
He claims it was hugely difficult trying to fight a relegation battle against the background of the club’s financial meltdown when they were losing star players every transfer window.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “That was a period when the club was going through a financial crisis.
“These players just have to worry about winning games – they’re not thinking if they’re going to have their wages paid or anything like that.
“I think the thing about then, we were in a position where we were trying to sell players every day to bring revenue into the football club.
“It’s completely different from that point of view. The players are there and they can focus on getting the results they need.”
Let Jesse Marsch away: See the Stan Collymore column, Page 51