Neil Harris casts view on size of Leeds United test as Cardiff City eye late promotion push

NEIL HARRIS is backing Cardiff City to haul themselves into the Championship promotion mix ahead of Sunday's "toughest" test in the division against Leeds United.
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Former Millwall boss Harris filled the void left by Neil Warnock's departure when taking the Cardiff reins in November and only four league defeats in 21 games have followed since.

After a 2-2 draw at home to fourth-placed Brentford at the end of last month, Saturday's 2-0 success at Barnsley left the Bluebirds ninth and just two points off the play-offs ahead of Sunday's showdown against Leeds in south Wales.

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Marcelo Bielsa's Whites approach the contest top of the Championship following five-straight wins and with a seven-point cushion in the division's automatic promotion places with nine games to go.

LOOKING UP: Cardiff City boss Neil Harris. Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images.LOOKING UP: Cardiff City boss Neil Harris. Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images.
LOOKING UP: Cardiff City boss Neil Harris. Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images.

Speaking after Saturday's victory, Harris told Wales Online: "All we can do is put ourselves in a position of trying to get stronger all the time.

"We've got nine games to go and we're two points off sixth.

"It's a nice position for us to be in, chasing as the underdog a little bit.

"Can we catch teams above us? Yes.

"We've got the toughest fixture in the Championship next week playing Leeds United, but the second half today wasn't just built off a team talk at half-time, it was the last 70 minutes against Brentford where we dominated and should have won the game.

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"It's built off probably the best week's training we've had since I've been at the club.

"And we saw that today.

"It wasn't a strong performance in the first half, but it was competitive.

"Is that a sign of us getting better? I hope so.

"I've said to the boys, 'what's gone on in the previous 36 games before today, is absolutely irrelevant now'.

"It's the last 10 games that are the most important to us, and we're one game into those 10 games with three points out of three. It's a good start."

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