Leeds United will be ‘a problem’ for anyone who comes across them in the Championship play-offs next month according to Aston Villa’s Dean Smith.
The Villa Park boss faced off with Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road on Sunday in a controversial 1-1 draw which ended the visitors’ winning run at 10 matches.
With the Whites and Villans almost certain to finish third and fifth in the table respectively, they will only meet in the play-offs if they both reach the final at Wembley on May 27.
While Dean Smith is aware of the link between playing each other in their penultimate regular fixtures and the play-offs, he would not be drawn on what he learned from Sunday.
The former Brentford chief acknowledged how great a season the Whites had had and how hard done by they should feel in missing out on automatic promotion.
“Got Norwich [City on May 5] first,” he said. "I have one eye on it, but we’ve got Norwich next Sunday.
“Unfortunately, we’ve lost our 10-match winning run today, but we’re 12 matches unbeaten still and it was a game against two good teams.
“I’ve got every respect for the way Leeds play. They can feel themselves unfortunate they haven’t got promoted this season.
“They’ve got the highest running stats, they’ve got the highest number of chances created and Marcelo alluded to himself they haven’t been efficient enough this season.
“That’s the only reason why they’re not in there, but they’re certainly going to be a problem in the play-off.”
