Norwich City made it well and truly clear to Leeds United on Saturday evening that they will push them to the very end of the season to claim the Championship title and secure automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men were put to the sword by the Canaries at Elland Road, suffering a 3-1 defeat that saw Norwich move top of the league table with a better goal-difference than Leeds.
But, while the big defeat was probably a big wake-up call to the Whites that they still have a long way to go if they were to play top-flight football next season, the loss presents a good opportunity for the manager to push his players even further.
Leeds travel to Teesside this coming Saturday to tackle Middlesbrough in what could be another tough encounter.
Middlesbrough are currently fifth in the league and are more than capable of delivering a good performance against Bielsa’s team.
But, the manager should use the pressure to his team’s advantage and get Leeds to raise their game for the match and the rest of the campaign.
Leeds have shown the tremendous talent and desire they have in their squad and Bielsa has done a brilliant job at getting his players to deliver at just the right times this season.
The loss on Saturday was only their third one at home this campaign and would’ve been somewhat of a shock to the club, given how easily and poorly the conceded the three goals.
This should also motivate this current set of Leeds players to make sure such a result doesn’t occur again this season, while the defeat should also not see the club revert into a state of panic, because they now sit second on the table.
Leeds have proven on more than a few occasions this season that they know how to bounce back from a setback and this trip to Middlesbrough presents them with the perfect opportunity to show once again how committed and determined they are to play in the Premier League next season.