Question of nerve as Leeds and Town eye promotion

A few miles down the A62 in Huddersfield, the scenario for Lee Clark's men is even more straightforward. Beat Stockport County tomorrow and Town will need just one point from their final two games to book a place in the play-offs.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? What can go wrong?

Well, the answer to the latter – as anyone with even a passing interest in this season's League One will tell you – is 'plenty' as a promotion race that has already displayed an amazing capacity to shock enters the final furlong.

A team's destiny being in their own hands is, it increasingly seems, a guarantee of nothing, as has been underlined via the game of musical chairs being played out in the upper reaches of the division.

Leeds may occupy the all-important second place with three games to go but, judging by the manner in which the side sitting immediately behind Norwich City has choked under the pressure during recent weeks, whether they can stay there is anyone's guess.

Likewise, Huddersfield may be the over-riding favourites to claim sixth place but defeat at Edgeley Park coupled with seventh-placed Colchester defeating Tranmere would reduce the gap between the two to just three points ahead of next week's meeting of the play-off hopefuls at the Galpharm Stadium .

Clearly, plenty of twists and turns potentially lay ahead – as Leeds manager Simon Grayson readily admits.

"Things can change so quickly in football," says the 40-year-old when speaking to the Yorkshire Post at United's Thorp Arch training ground yesterday.

"You only have to look at the Premier League to understand that. A week ago, everyone was saying Chelsea were home and hosed but one round of results later and it is game on again.

"That could be the case in League One, as we have seen in recent weeks. We are second but there is still plenty of football to play.

"The only thing I know for certain is that we won't achieve anything in these three games if we play like we did in the first 35 minutes at Gillingham."

Mention of United's 3-2 defeat at relegation-threatened Gillingham last weekend is a timely reminder of League One's propensity to shock.

Not only did Leeds travel to the Priestfield Stadium full of confidence after a trio of back-to-back wins, but Mark Stimson's side were suffering from an injury crisis that had wiped out all but one of the club's centre-halves.

Then, less than two minutes in, Gillingham captain and right-back Barry Fuller was forced out of the action to leave the home fans fearing the worst.

Half-an-hour later, however, and the Gills were three goals up and well on their way to inflicting an eighth defeat of 2010 on Leeds.

The only saving grace of an otherwise dispiriting afternoon for the visitors came after the final whistle when news filtered through that Norwich had beaten Charlton Athletic and Swindon Town had been held at home by Walsall.

Following on from the previous night when Huddersfield had defeated Millwall, it meant Leeds had unexpectedly retained second place.

With home games against

MK Dons and Bristol Rovers sandwiching the May 1 trip to Charlton, supporters have spent the past few days trying to second guess what will happen next in the race for the Championship.

It is a similar story elsewhere, as can be seen on this page with even those whose job it is to report on the teams chasing promotion having spent time gazing into a crystal ball in an attempt to make sense of what has been a crazy season.

Grayson, however, insists his only concern is claiming the required three wins.

The Leeds manager said: "It was a lift to hear the other results at Gillingham but we cannot afford to rely on others.

"It is why I have not studied who everyone else is playing during the run-in. People may think that sounds bizarre, but why worry about something we cannot affect? If we do our job, we will go up."

United's defeat at Gillingham was the seventh time in eight games that the side sitting second in the table had failed to win.

Only Swindon Town on Easter Monday – when Tranmere Rovers were beaten 3-0 at the County Ground – have bucked the trend of teams choking as the chasing pack breathes down their necks, something that suggests nerves have started to play an increasingly important role the longer the season has gone on.

Asked if he could explain why the place immediately behind runaway leaders Norwich should have become such a poisoned chalice, Grayson said: "I am not sure why the results have gone against the team sitting second.

"Maybe it is because the teams in and around them are putting pressure on. Or maybe it is because everyone knows just how close it is.

"One victory can take you up to second but a defeat can see you slip down to fourth. It is so tight, even now with just three games left. We are the ones to be shot at as the other teams are relying on us to slip up. But, most importantly, we know three wins will be enough to win promotion."

On the race to join Norwich in winning automatic promotion, Grayson added: "I would say there are definitely four sides still chasing second place.

"I always thought it would go to the wire because every one of those teams has good players and are capable of going on good runs.

"All of us have had a dip but the potential remains. The picture has changed a lot over the last few weeks but we are in a good position.

"I am very confident and have a big belief we will go up. We don't seem to achieve things the easy way at Leeds but, obviously, the quicker we do it the better."