Leicester City man reveals dressing room mood after Leeds United go top and makes Elland Road atmosphere claim

Conor Coady insists Leicester City remain focused on themselves despite losing top spot in the Championship to Leeds United over the weekend.

Enzo Maresca's side were leading the pack for 176 days and looked as good as promoted going into February, with many expecting the three teams below them to fight for one automatic promotion spot. But one win in five has seen a gap of 11 points between them and second-place wiped out in the space of a month.

Leeds were as far back as 17 points but 12 wins in a 13-game unbeaten league run, culminating in Sunday's 2-0 win at home to Millwall, saw them go top for the first time this season. The Foxes do have a game in hand but are now in unfamiliar territory and by no means guaranteed promotion.

“Yeah Leeds are a good side, they’ve got some great players and a lot who were in the Premier League last season, and some with Championship experience," Coady told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. “I think we’ve seen it before in the Championship where teams have gone on a run, I remember a couple of years ago Fulham did it in the second half of the season they had a good run. Leeds are doing the exact same.

“It’s a great run they have been on, not one that is helping us at this moment in time, in terms of how they are playing but from a Leicester point of view, it’s important we focus on what we need to focus on. We’ve got that game in hand now and need to make sure we do the next few games right and get the jobs finished.

“We knew all along. People were kind of saying around Christmas time, ‘oh Leicester are done, Leicester are there, Leicester have done this.’ It was never like that because we know what the Championship is like. We said the other day to get promoted from the Championship you are going to need 100 points. It is an incredible division. We know what we have to do from being inside the football club, and it’s a challenge we can’t wait to get started after the break.”

A major turning point in the season for both teams came at Elland Road in February, with Leeds scoring three late goals to beat Leicester 3-1 and snatch victory from what looked to be defeat. The away side dominated large portions but failed to take chances and then fell apart as Connor Roberts, and Patrick Bamford scored either side of a Wout Faes own goal.

“If you watched the game, we were fantastic for 80 minutes,” Coady said of that night. “It was a crazy end to the game. We had chances and needed to kill the game but never did as we should’ve done. It gave Leeds hope and whenever you are 1-0 down, you are still in it. We kept Leeds like that. They came back and scored the three goals. The atmosphere, you always know what it is going to be like at Elland Road. 

“I have had it before in the past where they suck the ball into the net. That’s what they do there and was always going to be a good atmosphere. It is important we understand what Leeds are doing, they have been great since Christmas but we have a job to do, as Ipswich and Southampton will be saying.”