Leeds United's stars can gauge Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton nerve ahead of Championship promotion run-in

There'll be coffee and cake for Daniel Farke during the March international break but many of his players will enjoy no such rest. As many as 13 Leeds United stars could be away representing their countries for the fortnight after Sunday's Championship clash against Millwall, returning towards the end of the month and kicking off the promotion run-in.

Win by two or more goals at Elland Road on Sunday and Leeds will go top for the first time this season - and what a time to do it. Leicester City will have led the pack for 179 days come kick-off against Millwall but one win in five has seen the gap between them and the Whites slim from 17 to just three.

Victory on Sunday - which is by no means a given, considering Neil Harris' side are unbeaten in four - would send those international Whites bouncing off to their respective national team squads. It's been hard to gauge exactly how their promotion rivals have been feeling in recent weeks but the break could allow some clarity as rivals come together for their nations.

Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Dan James and the on-loan Connor Roberts might be minded to carpool down to the Cardiff City Stadium for Wales' Euro 2024 play-off semi-final against Finland next week, and it is there that they will join up with Nathan Broadhead, Wes Burns and Kieffer Moore of Ipswich Town. Kieran McKenna's side looked to have arrested their slide with six straight league wins but Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Cardiff City was a punch to the gut.

Having taken a 79th-minute lead through Moore, a former Bluebirds favourite, they conceded twice in added-time to see all three points snatched from their grasp and second-place in the table no longer theirs. Kieran McKenna insisted there will be no problems regrouping but Leeds' Welsh quartet can start to ask questions.

Similarly, Liam Cooper has retained his place in the Scotland squad for friendlies against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland, where he will join up with Che Adams and Stuart Armstrong of Southampton. Russell Martin's side have fallen behind a little in recent weeks, although that is partly down to their meeting against Preston last week being postponed due to a fire outside St Mary's.

Charlie Cresswell will potentially join up with Leicester City's Callum Doyle on England under-21 duty, and could do so having seen his club claim top spot in the Championship. Enzo Maresca's side were seemingly cruising to the title but have faltered massively. It will be interesting to get a reading on the feeling among their squad.

Whether they climb into first or not this weekend, Leeds are currently the team everyone else in the promotion race fears. 11 wins in a 12-game unbeaten run, nine clean sheets since the turn of the year and an air of confidence that is showing no signs of evaporating for the home straight.

Victory over Millwall would see that confidence rise further still and a fortnight alongside some of their closest rivals at club-level could provide some intriguing insight to report back to Farke. The German, as experienced as anyone in this situation, will preach that focus is solely on their own performance but a look into opposition mindset will do him, and Leeds, no harm.