MOT Super Fans: Dare to dream as EFL puts Leeds back on track for Premier League
This column is part of a regular series from our panel of Leeds United Super Fans. Each week, our Super Fans will deliver their verdicts on the biggest talking points and news stories around Elland Road and Thorp Arch
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COVID-19 has put the Championship on hold for now but left Leeds on top of the table with The Whites on the cusp of promotion.
The long-awaited return to the Premier League beckons after 16 years away…
The 2-0 win over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town at Elland Road made it five wins and five clean sheets on the bounce.
Luke Ayling’s fantastic volley set us on our way with just three minutes on the clock. He thundered home a Jack Harrison cross from just inside the area to score one of the goals of the season – not just for Leeds, but in the entire division.
It was the full-back’s second in as many games and his third in five. He is in a rich vein of form and is enjoying his most prolific season to date in front of goal with four so far this campaign. It was also good to see Bamford break his barren run in front of goal with his second-half tap-in being his first in nine. They all count and he just needed one to go in by any means necessary!
With real momentum behind us this enforced break could not have come at a worse time.
Season on hold
The Coronavirus has, for now, put all footballing activity on hold until April 3 at the earliest. A deadline, which, has bought some time for the FA and UEFA to sort out the footballing calendar and try find a way to ensure we complete all fixtures. Coinciding with this has come the delay of Euro 2020 until 2021.
All Championship clubs have voted unanimously in favour of the completion of fixtures which is a good start. And the EFL has now said its primary objective is to get the season finished.
The idea of it being voided had also been mooted, which was a terrifying thought to say the least, and would bring no end of legal battles and ramifications, so it is a relief to see the right steps have been taken so far. Even if next season is to start extremely late, ending this one is the main focus – we will get to the other issues later down the line.
Leeds have deserved this promotion having only spent seven of thirty seven game-weeks outside of the top-two. No side has a better record in the last five games.
The other potential positive is the possibility of a bolstered squad with the return of Adam Forshaw who begun the season in dazzling form before his injury ruled him out for the season, and also getting Augustin and Poveda up to Bielsa’s high standards of fitness for the run-in.
The various football governing bodies have time on their side to find a way to complete 2019/20. Obviously it is easy to be blinded by our love and thirst for football, but what must be remembered is people’s health comes first in all of this. That is the primary focus. We do not need to rush this.
That doesn’t stop us dreaming though… so let’s hope the situation is somehow resolved sooner rather than later to get back to the beautiful game we all know and love and return to the promised land!
Adam Elliott is a member of the MOT Super Fans panel and provides his post-match thoughts on Leeds after every game
In other Leeds United news, ‘Wow, incredible’, ‘Surely this is a joke?’ – These Leeds fans react to official club update