By Daniel Feliciano

26th Apr, 2022 | 12:40pm

Robbie Keane names four Leeds United aces that give club 'real chance to survive'

Robbie Keane has named four Leeds players as key to their chances of survival following Monday night’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.

The Whites kept a second consecutive clean sheet for only the second time this season to earn a point and move five points clear of the relegation zone with five games to go.

But with big games against Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea in their next three fixtures Robbie Keane told Sky Sports MNF that having Luke Ayling, Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas gives them a ‘real chance of survival’.

“What I liked about Leeds today was just the way they battled, the way everyone battled,” he said.

“Like Jamie [Carragher] said, if you’ve got people like [Luke] Ayling, [Kalvin] Phillips, [Liam] Cooper and [Stuart] Dallas in your team then you have a real chance to survive.”

Core

One thing that this Leeds squad have as an advantage in their relegation race is that they have got plenty of experience of fighting together for an end goal.

While it was to win a title and not avoid relegation, these four players in particular know how to pull it together when they need results and they’ve done that in the last five games too.

The club won’t be expected to get many, if any, points from the next three games but their form and the Elland Road crowd will give them hope of surprising a few people.

That will help them massively in the battle for survival and it goes without saying that the team is better with these four players fit and firing.

The return to fitness of Phillips and Cooper is huge for Jesse Marsch and something that Marcelo Bielsa didn’t have for a while, but he’s making the most of it now.

In other Leeds news, Jamie Carragher shares ‘real problem’ Leeds face in relegation battle