I called Marcelo Bielsa after my first tough run and seven winless games has let Leeds United and others pull clear

It’s been six-and-a-half weeks since West Bromwich Albion won a game of football but Carlos Corberan is not feeling the heat - and he has Leeds United mentor Marcelo Bielsa to thank for it.

West Brom were right in the early promotion mix after winning five of a six-game unbeaten start - the sole draw being at home to Leeds in August - but have not taken maximum points since. Five straight draws have at least kept the points ticking along but not at the rate of their rivals, who have pushed the Baggies down into sixth.

Corberan cut his teeth working under Bielsa and played his part in bringing the 2019/20 Championship title to Elland Road, maintaining contact with the man who taught him so much after leaving the following summer. The 41-year-old is only into his fifth campaign as a first-team manager but has the experience to keep a level head, drawing on a past conversation with his mentor during another difficult spell.

"Unfortunately I have had this run of form before," Corberan told Birmingham Live. "I would like to tell you this is my first time without winning...but no, I have been in challenging moments always. In football when you win you have to keep winning and when you lose you have to win to not lose! If you ask me 'do I feel different?' I will tell you no!

"Always you need to win. In my first year in Huddersfield we needed to win to survive. The second year we need to win to make the play-offs. My first year here, the first part we needed to win to survive - the second year we needed to win to make the play-offs. So at the end you need to win every time.

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"I remember in my first year I called Bielsa to say 'Marcelo, I don't know how you are many years in this work because I am six months in and I have two feelings - relief or suffering’. I said to him 'If you are telling me to enjoy then I don't see it a lot'. He told me 'welcome to one of the most challenging jobs' - this is being a football coach. Every coach suffers the defeats, it is part of the job."

Despite that tough run, West Brom’s pedigree is in little doubt and a run of three clean sheets in that five-game run of draws is evidence Corberan is not letting anything get out of control. But Leeds might hope their former coach can find form quickly.

The Baggies have a tough run of fixtures on the horizon, starting with the visit of Burnley to the Hawthorns on Thursday evening. They will also face Sunderland and Sheffield United in their next six, and so can do Leeds a favour by taking points off their promotion rivals.

Leeds must first do their own job, however, and need to beat Millwall this evening if they want to climb back into the automatic promotion places. Sheffield United’s dramatic 2-1 win at Bristol City pulled them into second last night, two points clear of Daniel Farke’s side, who host QPR at Elland Road this weekend before the November international break.