Bristol City (H) – A make or break game for Warnock?

Neil Warnock managed to ease some of the pressure on himself by beating Birmingham City in midweek to secure a 4th round date with Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup. However, it may well be a date Warnock misses if Leeds United fail to pick up a crucial 3 points against bottom of the table Bristol City.

Whites fans were left seething after a dismal defeat to Barnsley last week (themselves bottom of the table at the time), so much so that Neil Warnock was booed from the pitch as he exited to the side of 5,000 travelling Leeds United fans.

With many fans already considering alternative managers, anything less than a win would undoubtedly see further calls for Neil Warnock’s head and with GFH Capital desperately attempting to lure fans back to Elland Road, they may have little choice but to bow to the demands of their customers.

Bristol City are now under new management meaning the task ahead for Warnock is sure to be more difficult than he’d hoped. Sean O’Driscoll has proven himself to be a very capable manager, working miracles with a Doncaster Rovers side who hugely overachieved under his leadership.

Further compounding the pressure on Neil Warnock, this is Leeds United’s final game before the transfer window closes. Following Simon Grayson’s dismissal after the transfer deadline last season, fans will fear a repeat of the same situation – Warnock sacked after it’s too late for his replacement to make any changes.

It took 45 minutes for Leeds United to kick into gear, but there were some signs of improvement midweek. The second half saw hoofballs kept to a minimum and some more attractive passing play help us to overcome a 1-0 half-time deficit to win the match 1-2. It wasn’t quite olé football, but it was certainly better than what we’ve seen of late.

Our thanks as always to Kick-Off for providing us with this exclusive statistical preview.