'That's what you want' - Ex-Leeds United man pinpoints Whites' promotion advantage during Championship run-in

Paul Heckingbottom believes the squad depth Leeds United have at their disposal could still be enough to get them over the line in the promotion battle. That's despite the Whites seeing their nine-game winning run ended by Huddersfield Town, who clung onto a point against the Whites.

Huddersfield went ahead in the game just before the break as Michal Helik prodded the ball home before they were reduced to 10-men as Jonathan Hogg received a second yellow card after catching Junior Firpo with his elbow. Daniel Farke made changes in the second half with Joel Piroe, Dan James and Connor Roberts stepping off the bench in the 62nd minute and it was the latter that created Leeds' equaliser as he squared the ball to Patrick Bamford on the edge of the six-yard box.

Ultimately, the Whites couldn't find another as the Terriers shut up shop and clung on under new manager Andre Breitenreiter, but the depth of talent within their squad was pivotal when it came to finding a way back into the game. That's what Heckingbottom, a former Leeds manager himself, believes provides Leeds with an advantage as they head into the final 11 games of the season.

"Yeah, certainly," Heckingbottom said when asked about the importance of Leeds' stacked squad. "There's good players but there's competition there as well and we saw it with Connor [Roberts] in the Leicester game at Elland Road.

"There's competition, they all want to play and no doubt the manager will have conversations with the players, the ones expressing that they want to play and so, when he does put the player in, there is an emphasis on the player to perform. As a group and as a manager, that's what you want.

"You're not going to get a hungrier group of players that one, they want to get in the team and two, they're chasing promotion to the Premier League."

Leeds will be keen to get back on the horse as soon as possible next week and Tuesday's visit of relegation threatened Stoke City provides them with that opportunity.