Keep calm and go to the Premier League: Marcelo Bielsa seeking perfect blend of emotions at Leeds United

CALMING INFLUENCE: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa.

Leeds hold a three-point cushion over third-placed Sheffield United in the Championship’s second automatic promotion place meaning ten points from their final four games will put the Whites back in the Premier League.

Bielsa’s men will take in their penultimate home game of the season against fourth-bottom Wigan Athletic on Good Friday as part of an Easter weekend double header that will also see Leeds visit 14th-placed Brentford on Easter Monday.

The Blades take on 11th-placed Nottingham Forest at Bramall Lane on Friday with Chris Wilder’s side then away at ninth-placed Hull City on Monday and Bielsaadmits even the outcome of this weekend’s games could be decisive.

Leeds could even be promoted on Monday should they gain four points more than Sheffield United in their next two games and the Blades will be without both Billy Sharp and Chris Basham who are nursing hamstring injuries.

With the possibility of Premier League football looming since the first time since 2004, Elland Road will be at fever pitch for Friday’s clash against the Latics but Bielsabelieves combining the perfect blend of emotions will be key to his side’s prospects.

Assessing the current mood and spirit of his camp, head coach Bielsa said: “We are like an expectation.

“It’s a spirit of calm too with the players to face the next games that we are going to play.

“And there is a spirit of responsibility around the importance of each point that we are going to play from now until the end of the season.”

Reflecting on difficult it was to keep calm, Bielsa admitted: “It is true that it is difficult to do this.

“When the atmosphere close to you is excited, it’s more difficult to be calm inside yourself.

“But you need to have both feelings - not just the calm - and to have the right value of both are difficult to get.

“It’s the intention to have the link with the amateur spirit that the players have to have because then the players can identify with the fans and the supporters.

“There is no football player that has not been a fan or not had this feeling.

“At the same time, as professionals, they have to have balance and they have to have this calm that we are talking about.”