Leeds United promotion permutations after Brentford win as Marcelo Bielsa backs Whites' mentality

The Bees’ 1-0 win at home to Preston means Bielsa’s men cannot clinch promotion tomorrow evening by beating Barnsley.

But a win over the Tykes will move Leeds onto 87 points, so dropped points for either West Brom or Brentford on Friday or Saturday respectively will send the Whites up.

The Baggies travel to Huddersfield Town on Friday and Thomas Frank’s Bees are involved in Saturday’s early kick-off at Stoke City, before Leeds’ trip to Derby County on Sunday.

Leeds fans tuned into Brentford’s clash with Preston on Wednesday hoping for a result that would leave their side on the verge of the Premier League, only for an Ollie Watkins goal to make it eight wins on the bounce for the Bees.

Ultimately, Leeds are masters of their own fate and Bielsa says the mood in the camp hasn’t changed.

“At the moment the feeling we have is the same feeling we have had so far,” he said.

“We just go for the win in every match.

“We are not thinking about the consequences if we win the match.”

The head coach backs his players to deal with the situation they’re facing as the Championship promotion race enters its final moments.

He says they are more than capable of harnessing their emotions to help them come through the crunch fixtures.

“Professionalism allows you to choose the best mood for the competition,” said Bielsa.

“Players have the capacity to resolve the more immediate requirements. Also they know how to manage the emotions that make them stronger and weaker as well, according to the emotion having a good origin, in a good way.

“It is necessary to manage those emotions to be able to compete in a good way.”

Bielsa, who lauded the previous meeting with Barnsley – a 2-0 win for the Whites – as a ‘beautiful match’ isn’t certain if the visitors, themselves bottom of the table and in desperate need of points, will come to attack. It’s possible, he thinks, that they may come to Elland Road and set up defensively.

“It can be an option [coming to attack] or not but sometimes when teams are forced to win, sometimes they want to win the match but prefer to force a mistake from their opponent,” he said.

“They can use both options. It is true that the question you make [Barnsley setting out to attack] is the more logical one.

“It is true that in [the first game] they attacked clearly, I cannot say what is going to happen this time.”