Whites legend Eddie Gray declares full confidence in Leeds United's promotion bid

United's promotion bid has been on hold since the middle of March due to the country's battle with coronavirus but the EFL have outlined the weekend of June 20 as a provisional restart date for games in the Sky Bet Championship to resume,

Leeds saw their push for the Premier League halted after notching up five successive wins that left Marcelo Bielsa's side top of the division and with a seven-point cushion in the division's automatic promotion places with nine games left.

United looked destined to end their 15-year exile from the country's top flight last season when spending the majority of the campaign in the Championship's top two only to fall away in the final month and finish third.

Defeat in the play-offs semi-finals to Derby County followed but Gray does not expect his former side to make the same mistake again.

"I'm very confident this season," Gray told the YEP.

"I think the players will have learned a lot from what happened to them at the end of last season and that just goes to show you what can happen in football.

"That's why I think you have got to try and bring the season to a conclusion on the field.

"We were disappointed at the end of last season but I think the players will have learned from that.

"They seem to be going into the games a lot more confident and with a lot more belief and I think they have really bought into how they play.

"The fitness is terrific this year and when you look at the games they have got nine games left and you have got five of them at home and the home form should be enough to see you through.

"I think out of the nine games they play, if they won five games, especially if you beat Fulham, you'd have to be looking at a great opportunity given where we are in the league and you would like to think that they'd be able to win five games to get up."

Gray also is a firm believer that the division must be decided on the field of play by fulfilling all remaining games.

Should the season be curtailed, United would be declared champions via the EFL's chosen unweighted points per game model with the EFL also saying that promotion and relegation should be retained.

But if such a system was also applied to the Premier League, Aston Villa would be relegated despite knowing that they would move out of the relegation zone if winning their game in hand,

"I think the season should be played," said Gray.

"I'm of the opinion that if they cancel this season, who can say when they are going to start next season?

"We could still be sat here next September or November thinking when we are going to start the season that was supposed to start.

"I think to be fair to everybody, regardless of when it starts, I think this season should be finished and then you think about the future.

"Everybody is talking about the lockdown and how long it is going to be until teams get back training but you never really know what it is going to happen.

"They have got to some sort of solution and it's not easy, it's difficult for everybody.

"But it's difficult for everybody in life just now and for people going back to work in general.

"I think whatever happens they should try and finish the season to a conclusion and I think that would be the most sensible thing to do but we will wait and see what happens.

"If they don't do that they will probably go for average points per game."

Gray added: ""It's like people saying give Liverpool the Premier League and that's fair enough but Liverpool slipped up in their last few league games so nobody can tell what is going to happen in football.

"I think you have got to try and finish the season.

"If you go up by the points per game system fair enough as you are in a position of strength and if that's how it is going to be then that's fair enough.

"But I would rather see the season come to a conclusion on the field of play, that's how I look at it.

"You even take the Premier League and Aston Villa would probably be down if it was points per game but they have got a game in hand as well. It's all a bit misleading and let's hope we get the chance to finish it."

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