Former captain urges Leeds United to arrest their slump soon

Leeds United are hitting the headlines in the FA Cup, but are sinking fast in the League One title race.

Their victory over United on January 3 is their only win of 2010 and their last-gasp draw at Tottenham last Saturday was the club's only other result deserving of praise.

Tuesday's 3-0 loss at Swindon, in front of a crowd a third the size of the one at White Hart Lane three days earlier, was their second straight league defeat and their third game without a victory in the competition that is the club's priority.

Add in Carlisle's JP Trophy win at Elland Road last Tuesday, when the north-west club became the first third-tier club to win at Elland Road for over a year, and the concern is obvious.

Prior to the Manchester United game, Leeds were unbeaten in 15 games in all competitions with 10 of those helping the club establish an ominous eight-point advantage at the top of League One. That lead has evaporated. Leeds now find themselves second, three points behind in-form Norwich City and three ahead of Charlton. Fourth-placed Colchester visit Elland Road on Saturday.

The fact that they entertain Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth-round replay next Wednesday is irrelevent – or at least should be.

For Brendan Ormsby, the club's current predicament stirs memories of 1987 when the Leeds side he captained reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, only to lose to Coventry City at Hillsborough.

But where that run helped Leeds, the FA Cup in 2009-10 has so far proved a hindrance, much to Ormsby's bemusement.

"Beating Manchester United for a Leeds United fan is like winning the FA Cup," said Ormsby, who played for Leeds between 1986 and 1990 and still follows the club.

"Then they go and get a great result at Spurs.

"But they've got to start concentrating on the league; that's the most important thing. They've been running away with the league all season, the gap at times has been huge.

"Now they're down in second and if they're not careful they'll be back in the pack. It's a three-horse race for the two promotion spots and I'm hoping they don't slip back into the play-off spots because we all know what happens when Leeds are in the play-offs.

"Winning at Manchester United and then coming back into a League One game against Wycombe is not easy, but that's when they have to stand up and say 'right we've got to carry on steam-rollering everyone'.

"But at the minute it looks like the cup run is having the reverse effect."

Twenty-three years ago it was a different story. Leeds were hovering outside the play-off places, which had just been introduced that season, when they embarked on their run to the last four of the FA Cup.

They beat Telford, Swindon, QPR – thanks to a late header by Ormsby – and Wigan before succumbing 3-2 to eventual winners Coventry.

"When we got to the 1987 FA Cup semi-final, we used that cup run as a springboard - it didn't have a negative effect at all," said Ormsby, whose Leeds side went all the way to the play-off final before losing to Charlton.

"We felt great after each cup game but we could still raise ourselves for the league games.

"We were on such a high and that carried on into our league form.

"We felt unbeatable, looked forward to every game and the confidence was sky high.

"I hope the current team get a result against Spurs but if they lose then they have got to pick themselves up and start again in the league because at the moment they're suffering.

"They need to shake off the cup run and thoughts of Tottenham in the replay, get over the Swindon defeat and concentrate on Colchester because these games are now six-pointers.

"Whether it's a scrappy game and a scrappy goal doesn't matter – they need the three points on Saturday."