Leeds United v Norwich City: Jon Newsome on importance of setting the right mood an hour before kick-off

It is a job he believes will start at 7pm, when the teamsheets are published an hour before kick-off.

Because the names the home fans are presented with as they make their way to Elland Road or eat and drink in its concourses has the potential to set a powerful ball rolling...or puncture the mood.

Like the other three teams in the Championship play-offs, Leeds went cagey in Sunday's first leg at Carrow Road, picking Archie Gray as a more defensive-minded No 10 and claiming a first clean sheet since April 9. But the second leg requires a different way of thinking, according to former centre-back Newsome.

"The way we start the game is huge," said the Sheffield-born defender, who played 88 times for Leeds and 76 for Norwich in the 1990s. "Even before that, the starting XI he (Daniel Farke) picks I think is huge because it puts a message out to people and you hope the supporters get on board and for the first 15, 20 minutes you do what (coach) Mick Hennigan used to say to us when I was there.

"He'd say: 'Don't disappoint them.'

"Norwich will be expecting a baptism of fire, 100mph with 36,000 Leeds fans screaming for our throats.

"Don't disappoint them.

"Make sure they look at that clock after 15 minutes and think, 'This is going to be a long time.'"

To do that, Newsome wants to see a different team.

"The manager is going to earn his money this week," he says. "I think he's got some big decisions to make.

"I don't think Georginio Rutter (at centre-forward) is working. I don't think it worked on Sunday.

"Leading the line he's got to play a very different kind of game to the one he's been playing – he's got to be willing to work away from the ball, willing to run a channel, stretch the game and he didn't do any of that. He played his usual game, came towards the ball, wanted it to feet, and that for me just condensed the area we played in and stifled Archie a little bit because he was just running into more bodies.

“I'd be a little bit surprised if he went with the same formation."

The contrasting moods Newsome saw from both sets of fans at the weekend surprised him.

"Norwich will say coming to Elland Road is a free hit for them," said Newsome, who will be commentating for BBC Radio Leeds.

"They finished 17 points behind Leeds and got turned over twice by them in the league so It could be seen as bit of a mismatch but that goes out of the window in the play-offs because of all the external noise and anxiety and what the prize is.

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"Norwich wanted to get people on their feet and it's a great club with great fans but they didn't really have a lot to shout about on the pitch. If some very tight decisions had gone Leeds' way they could have been one or two down."

This is Leeds' sixth play-offs and they have never won a final, or even a home leg since they played in the first Football League play-off as a Division Two side against First Division Charlton Athletic.

"Having spoken to a number of Leeds fans before Sunday I've never come across a fanbase with such anxiety and negativity and it really did surprise me," admits Newsome.

"I'm of the mindset of why don't you be the ones that buck the trend?, the group that says, 'We're going to be history-makers, the one that changes this mindset.'

"That's how I'd view it as a manager and a player and that's what you've got to drive into the lads. That's the message you should be getting across to the players because a full Elland Road is a really intimidating place to play as an opposition player when it's bouncing and they're on their feet and roaring.

"It can also be really intimidating as a home player when it becomes a bit sour. You've got to dispel that negativity, that anxiety. You can feel it turn – we've all been there.

"Norwich are probably going to sit deep but if we can get an early goal it puts that gameplan to the sword. I just think the longer the game goes on, the braver we have to be and the braver the supporters have to be.

"You can't allow your anxiety, your worry, to resonate around the stadium and leach onto the pitch. You can see it in the players' demeanour and their first touch.

"On Sunday we couldn't win it but we could lose it. Thursday is a totally different scenario: you've got to win.

"I don't think things like that (Leeds’ history) plays on players' minds but you are aware of them.

"If you go to a ground where you haven't won for so many years you don't go thinking you'll get beaten, you think, 'I've got to play really well.'

"You've got to approach every single game with a positive manner.

"It's not going to go on forever, you can't never ever win in the play-offs. What more motivation do you need at quarter to eight?

"The hairs are standing on the back of my neck saying this."