Leeds United 'advantage' means nothing and new Whites men absolute must: David Prutton

It would have been nice for Leeds United to sign off from the regular season with a win but unfortunately that wasn't the case against Southampton and it's just going to be a case of what boss Daniel Farke says with regards to it being a second 'bullet' to fire.

I understand how Daniel has got to make sure for it to be relatively positive and there is that sense of the hypothetical 'what if' having missed out on automatic promotion. But Saturday's final day was a case of Ipswich Town again doing their bit very comprehensively against what is brutally honestly a very, very poor Huddersfield Town side.

We were there beforehand talking about the 'jeopardy' in the Ipswich v Huddersfield game but was there any belief that would be the case given what the season had thrown up for Huddersfield? Possibly not. But it feels a bit like Leeds being in the play-offs has been framed as crushing disappointment or at least disappointment and not 'we have still got a chance to be promoted.'

Without making it sound needlessly positive or stupidly positive, that's unfortunately the way that Leeds' players and management and the club have got to get their head around it, a case of 'yes, we didn't do it the first time but there is still another chance'.

If you are asking will it end in tears if not then it depends who you mean. If the players don't look at it positively then it will do. The fans are well within their rights to be quite cynical about what they have seen and the way that the season has turned out.

But when people discuss what the teams are capable of and what they have done then you have to look at Leicester and the size of their squad, the financial clout of their squad and they did a wonderful job. Ipswich were absolutely phenomenal and Leeds have just got to take it on the chin because if they go into the play-offs with a sense of disappointment then it will slap them on the bum very quickly.

I could still see Leeds winning the play-offs. Of course. But I could also see Southampton doing that, I can see Norwich doing that and I can also see West Brom doing that because of the people involved. David Wagner of course took Huddersfield up. Carlos Corberan took Huddersfield to a play-off final so he knows what the players potentially have to offer and Russell Martin and Southampton play in a way that can do a job which was shown at Elland Road and has been shown at times during the course of the season.

Daniel knows how to navigate it obviously automatically with Norwich and there is that little undercurrent of course with head and heart at the weekend. But it's a professional job that's needed and Leeds have got some very, very talented professionals.

Leeds are just about favourites for the play-offs but saying they are the 'likeliest' winners is possibly the wrong word to use. Form-wise, over the course of the season, you would say that by dint of statistics then what is literally the third-best team in the league would potentially be one of the favourites for the play-offs.

But the people that are involved, the players that are involved, the calibre of player and the experience of the players involved for all four teams means that I think it's as wide open as a neutral as you could possibly wish for it to be. Obviously as a Leeds fan you want to go into it as favourites but then does favourites create expectation which then creates pressure?

I think Norwich will be tough semi-final opponents for Leeds. They have got players in the likes of Gabi Sara and Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent that can cause problems. Throw into that the likes of Ashley Barnes and Kenny McLean, they have got some real experience there so it will be tough. The Norwich home crowd won't need any more inspiration or to get up for this because it is pure knockout football. It's wonderful as a spectacle.

Leeds finished 17 points ahead of Norwich but that's just the nature of the playoffs. That gap or advantage doesn't matter now because the gap has to be tangible between them over the course of two games.

We'll have to wait and see if Patrick Bamford and Dan James are back for Leeds after their injuries. As Leeds have worked out over the course of the season and as common sense reflects, if you have got your first choice XI or the baulk of your squad available then you are going to have a decent chance.

Now it's to do with how Daniel Farke sets the team up and how they deal with pressure. I think at times over the season they have shown that they can deal with pressure. At other times, take the QPR game, they didn't turn up. You need the Leeds that can put together a string of results and an unbeaten run like they did at the turn of the year turning up on Sunday lunchtime positive, bright-eyed and ready to go.