Michael O'Neill pays Leeds United ultimate compliment and makes Premier League prediction after Stoke City blitz

O'Neill's fourth-bottom Potters looked to be heading into the interval of Thursday evening's clash at Elland Road all square but O'Neill was left disappointed at conceding a needless penalty on the stroke of half-time that Mateusz Klich coolly converted.

Tommy Smith had fouled Helder Costa who was running away from goal and Marcelo Bielsa's Whites then ran riot in the second half with Costa, skipper Liam Cooper, Pablo Hernandez, Patrick Bamford all finding the back of the net.

The victory put United back on top of the Championship with Leeds again holding a six-point cushion in the automatic promotion spots with four games left.

Seven points will guarantee automatic promotion - even if third-placed Brentford and second-placed West Brom win every remaining game - and O'Neill now expects Leeds to be playing Premier League football next term.

"I'd be very surprised if Leeds don't go up to be honest," O'Neill told the YEP.

"They are the best team that we have played.

"I thought we couldn't deal with them physically, we didn't win many one v one duels all over the pitch.

"The pace at which they played in, particularly when they got ahead, it was difficult for us.

"I thought at times in the first half we gave a decent account of ourselves and we tried to stay in the game but against a team of that quality you can't give them a leg up and we did that with the penalty. It was a needless penalty - they are going away from goal.

"Once we went behind in the game it was always going to be very difficult for us."