Leeds United midfield legend identifies key to promotion and makes Championship escapee prediction

Gary McAllister, who arrived at Elland Road the summer after the Whites' famous promotion to the top flight and went on to win the First Division title, hopes to see them go up again this season alongside his other former clubs Leicester City and Coventry City. A McAllister hat-trick is a long shot, thanks in part to an intense three-way battle for second place and the lottery that will be the play-offs. Leicester are expected to do their bit and lift the title and though Leeds, in third, are well in the hunt for automatic promotion, there can be no guarantees. As for the Sky Blues, they will be there or thereabouts to extend their campaign beyond 46 games but they found out last season that you can go all the way and still not escape this division.

McAllister knows just about anything can happen but he's enthused by what he has seen of Leeds lately, and confident they can steal ahead of the second-placed Saints.

"Southampton are flying at the moment, but the Championship is a tight league because games happen so often, so much can change within a month," the Leeds title winner told gambling website Lord Ping. “Leeds have been excellent at home and they're starting to get results away. They've got Patrick Bamford back, Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter firing, and they seem to be moving forward. I think they have goals in the team, and enough to boost them to the second spot."

Goals have been flying in at one end for Leeds and not at the other. Since the turn of the year they've scored 18 times in eight games and conceded just three. Seven of Farke's attackers have got themselves on the scoresheet, including players who struggled to make a telling impact in the first half of the season. The frontline are almost always singled out by opposition managers as a big factor in why their team lost to Leeds. But McAllister looks further back and likes what he sees there.

“I'm always drawn to the middle of the park - as that's where games are won and lost," he said. "I worked with Glen Kamara at Rangers, and he's settled in really well. Ethan Ampadu has been really impressive, too, and I think there are enough quality midfielders to control games and win them."

A man McAllister didn't name, Ilia Gruev, has come to the fore in a big way in recent weeks and was Man of the Match by a distance in the 4-1 FA Cup win over Plymouth Argyle. Early season concerns over strength in depth and what would happen should they lose Ampadu have eased, considerably. Leicester might be off in the distance and Southampton may well be flying but Leeds look like a team ready for lift-off. And when the man who graced the English top flight in the colours of Leicester, Leeds, Coventry and Liverpool casts his eyes over the cast of 2024/25 Premier League hopefuls, he can envisage two of his former employers back in the big time.

“It's going to be tough for Coventry," said McAllister. "I think Leicester will win the league, and the competition between Southampton, Leeds, and Ipswich will be fierce. I can't, however, see past the three teams who went down last season coming back up come May. I'd like to see Leeds do well as they're another one of my old clubs with a very experienced manager."