Marcelo Bielsa reacts to Leeds' commanding position in automatic promotion battle

Marcelo Bielsa insists Leeds cannot ease up in the battle for promotion - despite their commanding position.

The Championship leaders have won their last seven games to open up an 11-point advantage over third-placed Fulham in the race for automatic promotion.

Yet Bielsa claims Leeds have not achieved anything and is mindful of last season when his side blew promotion despite spending most of the campaign in the top two.

“We need to talk about the reality of the situation,” said the Leeds head coach. 

“We know the team at the bottom can beat the team at the top. The team at the top of the table can lose points to the team at the bottom.

Marcelo Bielsa insists Leeds still have much work to do to win promotion (PA)

“We must not talk about or consider the past or the future. We must only think about what is happening now and try to deal with each particular match and the opponent we face.”

Bielsa also played down winning the Manager of the Month award for November for Leeds’ haul of five wins from five games.

He claims his coaching staff and players deserve all the credit for their fine form.

“The award coincides with a moment in the season where Leeds have had an impact,” said the Argentinian.

Marcelo Bielsa claims his Manager of the Month award is a tribute to his coaches and players (George Wood)

“It is down to the performances of the players and, of course, around the team, there are a lot of people working with the players.

“Recognising the manager is one way to recognise everybody, who is helping the team, more than helping, having some influence.

“But of course more important is the input of the players. We know that every team has different periods in the competition, better and worse, and we must keep going.”