"Hopefully we can chill and watch Sheffield United get beat" - Kalvin Phillips makes cheeky quip ahead of Leeds United's trip to Preston

Phillips said he and Marcelo Bielsa’s players were determined to shift the balance of the promotion race in their favour again by claiming three points at Deepdale and regaining second place in the Championship.

Sheffield United lie directly behind leaders Norwich City ahead of the final six games but play 24 hours later than Leeds, away at Birmingham City on Wednesday night.

Leeds slipped a point behind the Blades after losing 1-0 to Birmingham on Saturday.

Phillips urged Leeds to have confidence in themselves after what he called an “absolutely brilliant” season and said their vast improvement was underlined by comparisons with the tame United performance which ended in a 3-1 defeat at Preston under Paul Heckingbottom exactly a year ago.

“It goes to show that we’ve done really well this season,” the midfielder said. “As a team we’ve been absolutely brilliant.

“I don’t think anybody expected to do as well as we have before the start of the season and it goes to show the hard work that everyone’s put in.

“There’s six more big games to go but hopefully after tomorrow night, we can have a little chill, relax and watch Sheffield United get beat!”

Second place has been changing hands constantly, passing to Sheffield United after their win at Elland Road before the recent international break but regained by Leeds with a home win at Millwall nine days ago.

Sheffield United, however, beat Preston 1-0 on Saturday while Leeds were losing at Birmingham, ensuring the table shifted again.

“We did it last week but then it flipped over this week,” Phillips said. “It's one of them where it'll go right to the wire.

“You win some and lose some. We didn’t play particularly well against Birmingham but we played really well against Sheffield United and lost. We take that as having to play better and if we play better, we’ll win.”