Former Leeds United left-back Ian Harte believes the prospect of his former club having to play behind closed doors in their quest to achieve promotion to the Premier League will not impact their chances of finishing the job.
The Whites' promotion assault has been forced to come to a standstill over the last two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The suspension of the season could not have arrived at a worse possible time for the Whites as they had just registered a fifth successive victory, beating West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town 2-0, to take them back to the top of the Championship table.
At the time of writing, it is unknown whether or not Leeds will be presented with the opportunity to continue their promotion push, be automatically presented with promotion without having to kick a ball again this season or see their aspirations of returning to the top flight 16 years after suffering relegation stripped away completly.
The hope for everyone associated with the club, of course, is that the season is given the green light to resume and Leeds can continue their charge towards the Premier League. Should that prove the case, it is already a certainty that matches will have to be staged behind closed doors, with it impossible to predict when fans will be allowed back into stadiums because of the virus.
However, former defender Harte, who spent the first six years of his senior career at Elland Road before sealing a switch to Spanish outfit Levante in 2007, doesn't think the prospect of playing in an empty Elland Road will have any sort of impact on Leeds' promotion chances.
“I can’t see that being a problem, it’s the players’ mindset and the manager," Harte told Football League World.
“They’ve been so focused this season, whether that’s home or away, it doesn’t matter if it’s behind closed doors, he [Bielsa] will have them 100% focused on the task at hand.”
Leeds currently find themselves top of the pile on 71 points, one clear of their nearest challengers, West Bromwich Albion, with nine games remaining.
