Former Leeds defender McQueen says not getting promoted would be ‘devastating’

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Leeds United defender Gordon McQueen says his old club would find failure to get promoted this season ‘devastating’.

According to the Sunday People, 24/03, page 51, McQueen still thinks Marcelo Bielsa’s side will get automatic promotion, but fears the impact on the club if they can’t.

He said: “Everyone is saying Leeds will blow up at the end of the season again, but I still think they’ll go up automatically. It would be devastating if they missed out – so near and yet so far.”

Every season that Leeds don’t go up, the desperation to go back to the Premier League and the pressure on the team to achieve so grows even more.

Sometimes, clubs can sustain that momentum from a failed promotion push, redouble their efforts and go again.

But Leeds would need to keep Bielsa and their top players as well as the faith that the club is moving in the right direction.

So missing out need not be a hammer blow because the club would still be well-placed for promotion if they did miss out.

That said, McQueen is right to back Leeds to get back up – they should make the top two, and would be by far the strongest team in the play-offs if they did slip into them.