The YP's chief football writer, Stuart Rayner, looks ahead to Leeds United's Elland Road clash against Championship rivals, Preston North End on Sunday
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00:00 Sunday season welcomed Preston to Eller Road, where they made it into a bit of a fortress.
00:13 How do you see that one going?
00:15 Yeah, as you say, I mean, the problems they had at the end of the year were away from home, including at Preston.
00:22 But yeah, the home form has been really strong.
00:23 This is the first of four home games in the next five matches.
00:28 So it's a real opportunity for them to get the foot down and really put some pressure back onto teams like particularly Southampton,
00:36 who've been doing very well recently.
00:38 And obviously Ipswich, who've wobbled a little bit on the back of their big defeat at Eller Road before Christmas.
00:46 So, yeah, I think, you know, after what happened on Boxing Day,
00:51 I think Leeds will be keen to set the record straight with a good win over a Preston team who have been struggling a little bit of late.
01:00 And as I say, put some pressure back on in that promotion race.
01:06 We're essentially talking about one spot being available now for everyone bar Leicester, who seem to have assured themselves of going straight back up.
01:14 There's not a lot of room for error for any teams, including Leeds, is there, between now and the end of the season?
01:19 No, there isn't. But equally, they've got to be careful not to panic either.
01:26 You know, they had those three away defeats on the trot and, you know, sometimes at some clubs, including Leeds,
01:34 let's be honest, things can get a bit out of proportion and it can be the end of the world when you've had a couple of bad results like that.
01:41 Daniel Farke is very much, you know, quite relaxed, quite confident guy who's keen not to get good or bad runs out of proportion.
01:51 And, you know, there will be more defeats. There will be more surprise defeats between now and the end of the season.
01:57 Who knows? Preston could be one of them. But it's important that they don't overreact when that happens.
02:02 They've got a manager with a track record. They've got a deep squad, really.
02:06 They just need to be in and around it come Easter time when the real squeaky bum games come around.
02:12 And so long as they are, I'd be fairly confident of them seeing the job through.
02:18 But yeah, as things stand at the moment, obviously, you'd rather be where Ipswich are right now.
02:23 But so long as they're within striking distance, I don't think there's any cause for too much concern.
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