Ipswich Town captain's honest Leeds United admission highlights poor Whites luck

Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy admits Leeds United’s 90-point total was simply not enough to win promotion in what has been an incredible Championship season.

Leeds were consigned to a place in the play-offs after losing 2-1 at home to Southampton on Saturday, albeit the result was moot with Ipswich beating Huddersfield Town to secure their own fate and join Leicester in the top two. Daniel Farke’s side were excellent for large parts of the season and enjoyed a 15-game unbeaten run to put themselves in the mix for top-spot, but a 90-point haul still saw them fall short.

They became the first team in Championship history to hit that milestone and not finish in the top-two, with Sunderland the last to do so in 1997/98 when it was still the First Division. Ipswich and Leicester finished on 96 and 97 respectively, with the captain of the former pointing out just how unfortunate Leeds had been.

“It’s an incredible moment,” Morsy told the East Anglian Daily Times of his side’s promotion. “It’s not easy at all, we’ve competed with some fantastic teams all season – Leicester, Leeds, Southampton – great teams with great managers and experienced, top players. 

“To come out second in that bunch and to get promoted is a phenomenal achievement and it makes it even more sweet, the fact that those teams below us have been so good and pushed us all season. You look at Leeds – normally 90 points would do it, but not this season. We managed to get 96, which is a really good points tally and we did it.”

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Leeds will feel particularly sore in the knowledge that they did the double over both Ipswich and Leicester during the regular season, even managing to beat the former 4-0 at Elland Road in December. Farke’s men were at their best against the top sides but fell short elsewhere, with the failure to beat the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town and Rotherham proving costly.

They are now set to face sixth-placed Norwich City in the play-off semi-finals, with the first leg at Carrow Road on Sunday before Leeds return to Elland Road a week on Thursday. The winner of that two-legged clash will meet one of Southampton or West Bromwich Albion at Wembley on Sunday, May 26.

That Leeds go into the play-offs on a poor run will be a concern for Farke but they are not alone, with none of the four competing teams gaining momentum going into the crucial period. Norwich and Southampton are the most ‘in-form’ teams with nine points from their last six games, while West Brom have seven.

Leeds are the biggest strugglers by some distance, however, with just four points from their last six. According to Opta statistician Jonny Cooper (@JRCooper26), they are the first team in second-tier play-off history to go into the knockout mini-tournament with such a low six-game total.