Leeds United have officially been resigned to their fate of a Championship play-off spot after a 2-1 defeat to Southampton.
The Whites headed into the final day needing an absolute miracle to finish in second place and it would be fair to say they were a considerable margin from achieving it.
Daniel Farke’s side were in need of a huge favour from relegated Huddersfield Town at Portman Road, but Ipswich Town swept them aside with consummate ease.
At Elland Road, meanwhile, Leeds suffered a second consecutive home defeat at the hands of Southampton, having gone their first 21 home league matches unbeaten under Farke.
And Leeds will now be switching their focus immediately onto next weekend’s play-off semi-final, where they will, incidentally, be playing Farke’s old side Norwich City over two legs.
Leeds fans all saying same thing on play-off hopes
Leeds have endured a pretty miserable collapse since the international break, winning just two of their eight matches, which has actually seen them lose out on the top two by a comfortable margin.
Having succumbed to a side who Leeds could face in the play-off final, it would be fair to say optimism isn’t overly high heading into the Whites’ second chance of promotion.
One fan believes Leeds are now the whipping boys heading into the play-offs, having produced another ‘gutless performance’ after the debacle of QPR.
Another claimed that any remaining faith they had in the side before today’s game is now all but gone, and is baffled at the drop off in form.
He said: “Didn’t have alot of faith in Leeds for the play offs but I have even less after today. What the hell has happened to this team?”
Another is also finding it difficult to see how Leeds could possibly beat a Southampton side at Wembley if that is what it comes down to.
It is now time for Daniel Farke to earn his money
There isn’t a single side heading into these play-offs in particularly good form, but Leeds’ is certainly the worst of the four.
Three defeats in their last four matches has been a complete collapse, and the dressing room will be gutted at how they’ve let second place slip.
However, this is now the time for Farke to show what he is made of. Martin O’Neill says he has a big job on his hands, and he does.
Farke will need to completely regroup his side at Thorp Arch this week ahead of the trip to Carrow Road, where league form simply needs to go out of the window.