There’s no denying that Leeds had been on a decent run of form of late. Steve Evans might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he deserves credit for steering the club into a position where a play-off place was just about beginning to look as if it might be a viable target over the latter months of the season.

The 2-1 defeat at Ipswich Town on Tuesday night has put a pretty significant dent in those aspirations, with the gap between Leeds and the top-six now standing at a hefty 12-points. Even in early January, that game with the Tractor Boys was arguably something of a six-pointer and could well prove to be a defining point in the season.

With 20 games of the campaign remaining, it’s going to take a herculean effort to get up among the upper echelons from here. In fairness, relegation looks equally unlikely, particularly given the financial plight of Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic’s sterling attempts at self-destruction.

Whilst not quite writing off our promotion dreams just yet (or being so complacent as to ignore the possibility of relegation), it’s looking like the best hope of a little excitement between now and the season’s end could come by way of a decent showing in the FA Cup.

A run of results, be they positive or negative, could yet make things interesting at either end of the table, but a quick perusal of the post-match odds after Ipswich only emphasizes the point that Leeds are already looking destined to meander around mid-table for the remainder of the season (you can get 28/1 with Coral on a top-six finish and 33/1 with Skybet for relegation or check the latest betting odds).

There’s the nucleus of a very decent young squad at Elland Road, but as soon as that late Ipswich winner went in I found myself wondering how it might impact on the remainder of the transfer window. The current league position isn’t exactly a selling point for potential targets as it is and you wouldn’t put it past Massimo Cellino to cash-in should firm offers materialize for the likes of Lewis Cook and Charlie Taylor over the next couple of weeks.

Speaking of our esteemed leader, the one thing that can be predicted with a fair degree of certainty is that another nonsensical and invariably damaging episode for the club is just around the corner. Excitement on the pitch might be limited over the coming months, but you just know that there will be talking points aplenty off it.