Gillingham v Leeds United : Leeds look to keep the pressure on with win at Gillingham

The Elland Road side have, courtesy of a trio of back-to-back wins, wrestled back the initiative in the race for automatic promotion.

Four wins from their final four games will, regardless of how their rivals perform, be enough to clinch at least second place for United. And ahead of today's tough trip to Gillingham, Grayson is backing his players to do just that and earn their chance in the second tier.

The Leeds manager said: "I have said all along that a large part of our group can go on and play in the Championship. They have to prove themselves between now and the end of the season by getting there and then we will re-assess the squad and decide what areas need improving and what sort of budget we have.

"I like to think most of them have the self-belief and ability to play at the next stage."

For the United players to earn that chance, keeping a step ahead of Millwall, Swindon Town and Charlton Athletic over the final three weeks of the season is paramount.

It means today's trip to the Priestfield Stadium, where Gillingham have lost just twice this term, is of vital importance to a side brimming with confidence following the midweek demolition of Carlisle United. The display in that 3-1 win at Brunton Park was their best in the league since the turn of the year.

Grayson was particularly pleased with how new strikeforce Max Gradel and Luciano Becchio linked up together in the wake of his decision to drop Jermaine Beckford.

The Leeds manager has since stressed that the club's 27-goal top-scorer still has an important role to play this season, even if that turns out to be from the bench.

Grayson has also spent the past few days warning the players of the perils of allowing their standard of performance to dip.

He said: "We showed a lot of quality against Carlisle and got our rewards with a win.

"It is all about staying focused. We can't let our standards slip or we will come unstuck. We can't worry too much about the others, we just have to get our minds set on what we have to do. There will be a lot of interesting times between now and the end of the season."

United have announced the upper tier of the East Stand will be open for the final game of the season against Bristol Rovers on May 8.