Derby County boss Phillip Cocu makes Leeds United admission ahead of Whites test

Marcelo Bielsa's Whites are heading to Derby for their penultimate game of the season already assured of promotion to the Premier League as champions.

United were ensured of an automatic promotion place on Friday evening as second-placed West Brom suffered a 2-1 reverse at Huddersfield Town and Leeds sealed the title the following day as third-placed Brentford lost 1-0 at Stoke City.

And speaking before United had been crowned champions, Rams boss Cocu said there could be no arguing with United's position in the table with Cocu also full of praise for United's head coach.

In what is a rematch of last season's Championship play-offs semi final first leg, Derby approach today's clash against the Whites with their promotion hopes over with the Rams 12th and nine points off the play-offs.

"It is a challenge for us on Sunday against Leeds United because they are top of the table," said Cocu, speaking to RamsTV.

“We want to put on a good performance.

"They are a strong side, I think they deserve to be on top of the league.

They have a great structure to the team and quality players but they always put in a team performance and don't conceded many goals.

"They can dominate if they want but also defend well and

“It will be a tough game, but to truly to end the season well and we will push to get good results in these last two games.

“We always use our saying ‘never give up’.

"In this situation the play-offs may not be within reach, but that's not to say we can switch off and relax.

"We definitely want to put on a good performance in he last two games."

Derby will be boosted by the return of striker Martyn Waghorn after a three-match ban while Duane Holmes is back in training after a hamstring injury.

Asked what he was looking for from his players, Cocu said: "We need to continue the way we play but we need to show that we learn from our mistakes and be more solid in our decision making.

"When we build up or when we defend a set play, we cannot keep making the same mistakes.

"A mistake is always a pet of football but in three games in a row it's too much so we have to step up and be focused and definitely against a top team in Leeds.

"We cannot afford these kind of mistakes, we cannot show any fear so we need bravery to play but also be really focused and know what we can and can't do in certain stages of the game.”

Reflecting on the work of Bielsa at Leeds, Cocu said: "He is a great manager.

"He has his philosophy, he sticks to his beliefs.

"He got the time to build on his philiosophy, and a lot of credit has to be given to him."

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Thank you Laura Collins