Leeds United completed their end of season lap of honour after last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Southampton.
Having gone their first 21 home league matches unbeaten, Leeds ended the season with back-to-back losses at Elland Road.
Ultimately, this is a statistic which shows just how Leeds threw away the chance to win automatic promotion, having been top of the league going into the March international break, in an incredible run of form.
However, Leeds have no time to be feeling sorry for themselves for how they ended the season with the play-offs getting underway in less than 48 hours against Norwich City.
Leeds are set to face Daniel Farke’s former side over two legs with the return fixture taking place at Elland Road on Thursday for a chance to play one of Southampton or West Bromwich Albion in the final.
History is firmly stacked against Leeds’ chances in the play-offs, as no side has ever gone onto win them after losing four of their last six league matches. The Whites have also failed in all five of their previous attempts.
Farke shares what he noticed in Leeds lap of honour last week
After last weekend’s defeat to Southampton, it would be fair to say the confidence of Leeds supporters heading into the play-offs on social media is not overly high.
But those in the stadium after full-time, certainly wanted to portray a different message to the players, who will no doubt have been feeling down after another defeat.
When walking around the pitch, the Leeds squad were met with a rapturous applause and some passionate chanting from all four sides of the ground.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference earlier today, Farke says that sort of reception did not go unnoticed as it shows just how much the fans are behind them.
He said: “No. In general, trust is hard-earned and lost easily. Give it away too easy. Once you are disappointed after a loss or a poor result it is nothing to do with losing faith, it shows how much our fans care.
“We were all disappointed. After a loss we don’t all want to hug, but we are not in bad moods. You have to show this if you care. Our fans care about this club.
“Our lap of honour showed us they trust us and are behind us. We have more than 5,000 people with comments, there are 500,000 or 5,000,000 backing Leeds.
“You are more tempted to write a comment when you are in a bad mood. When you are happy at home with your missus you have less time to go and post a negative comment.”
Dan James could return from injury for play-offs
Farke also provided an injury update on his Leeds squad going into the play-offs and certainly had some mixed news to bring fans.
While Patrick Bamford is set to miss both legs after picking up a leg injury worse than initially feared, there is a chance Dan James will be available on Sunday.
He said: “Daniel James is making good progress. He’s coming closer and closer. Joined in with parts of team training. Tight race, but has a chance. Depends on the next 48 hours. Could be he is an option. Not ready for 90, but an option to travel.
“Patrick will definitely miss both legs. Seen a different knee consultant. New diagnosis: mini trauma in his patellar tendon.”