Leeds United legend Peter Lorimer believes the Elland Road club will be worthy of their success if they claim automatic promotion from League One, regardless of their struggle through the second half of the season.
United are two games away from completing a dramatic campaign which has deteriorated since the turn of the year and their rise into the Championship now rests on a visit to Charlton Athletic next weekend and a clash with Bristol Rovers at Elland Road on May 8, the last day of the term.
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Leeds were outright favourites to win promotion at the midway point of the season after amassing 56 points from 23 games and losing only once, but a severe loss of momentum left the club clinging to second position in League One by a single point ahead of yesterday's game against MK Dons.
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Simon Grayson's squad were usurped at the top of the division in January by Norwich City, the first club to secure promotion and champions-elect for the past two months, but a surge of three straight wins earlier this month kept United on course to follow them out of League One without the need for a third play-off campaign in as many years.
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United's progress was stunted again by a 3-2 defeat at Gillingham last Saturday, their fifth loss in nine games, but second place remained in their hands as points went begging amongst the group of clubs immediately below them.
A prolonged downturn of form placed in peril a promotion place which looked certain four months ago, but Lorimer said Grayson's squad would be deserving of a place in the Championship should the final fortnight of the season lift them back into England's second tier for the first time since 2007.
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The former Leeds striker said: "The results in the first half of the season were excellent and that gave them a great chance. If they go up then you'd have to say that over the course of the whole season they'll deserve it.
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"It's hard to understand or explain the form since the turn of the year because it's been like chalk and cheese but your season comes down to where you finish after 46 games, not 23.
"The most important thing was always getting out of League One, however it happened.
"A lot of people assumed at Christmas that Leeds were guaranteed to finish in the top two and probably win the league. You couldn't really see anyone stopping them, but they've had very little consistency since then.
"It's either been great performances or poor performances with nothing in between.
"That puts a lot of pressure on the players but they've still got the chance to do it and that's a big bonus after everything that's gone on.
"It would be a crying shame if promotion gets away because the players couldn't have given themselves a better chance."
United will spend this week building up to their last away game of the season against Charlton at The Valley, a meeting between the two clubs who began the term as leading candidates for the League One title.
Charlton led the division for several weeks before allowing Leeds to assume control in September, but United lost first place on the weekend of their FA Cup fourth-round tie at Tottenham Hotspur, giving way to a Norwich side that did not look back.
City's promotion was confirmed by their 1-0 win at Charlton last weekend, a result which effectively guaranteed them the title in the process.
Leeds were held to a goalless draw by Charlton at Elland Road at the start of October on a windswept day which negated both teams and offered neither squad great insight into the other.
The mixed form experienced by United has been replicated in part by Phil Parkinson's squad, who have dropped points regularly since the turn of the year.
A run of one win from seven games in January and February held Charlton back at a crucial time.
Their loss at home to Norwich left the club three points behind Leeds with an inferior goal difference, but Parkinson was upbeat afterwards, saying: "We will keep going. It's all there to play for.
"It's so unpredictable and tense at this time of the year. You need players with courage to get on the ball and pass it and you need players who can stand up physically to every challenge.
"As we've been saying all along, there are so many twists and turns in this promotion race.
"You just have to look at last Saturday's results – Gillingham had three centre-halves out and I couldn't see Leeds losing, but Leeds were 3-1 down at half-time."
Charlton's campaign has rested on their home form and Norwich were only the third team to win at The Valley this season, following on from Brighton and Leyton Orient.
United's last visit to the ground came in 2003 when James Milner's early goal earned them a 1-0 win and United's record at Charlton is excellent.
Their previous three appearances there all yielded victories, including a 6-1 rout seven years ago.
Charlton received a boost last week with the return of 13-goal striker Deon Burton from a knee injury but Leeds will take a strong squad to The Valley with the vast majority of their senior professionals available.
Only Jason Crowe and Patrick Kisnorbo will be unavailable due to recent operations.
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Leeds were outright favourites to win promotion at the midway point of the season after amassing 56 points from 23 games and losing only once, but a severe loss of momentum left the club clinging to second position in League One by a single point ahead of yesterday's game against MK Dons.
* Click here to read latest letters to the YEP Sports Editor.
Simon Grayson's squad were usurped at the top of the division in January by Norwich City, the first club to secure promotion and champions-elect for the past two months, but a surge of three straight wins earlier this month kept United on course to follow them out of League One without the need for a third play-off campaign in as many years.
* Click here for latest Huddersfield Town news.
United's progress was stunted again by a 3-2 defeat at Gillingham last Saturday, their fifth loss in nine games, but second place remained in their hands as points went begging amongst the group of clubs immediately below them.
A prolonged downturn of form placed in peril a promotion place which looked certain four months ago, but Lorimer said Grayson's squad would be deserving of a place in the Championship should the final fortnight of the season lift them back into England's second tier for the first time since 2007.
* Click here to follow the YEP on Twitter.
The former Leeds striker said: "The results in the first half of the season were excellent and that gave them a great chance. If they go up then you'd have to say that over the course of the whole season they'll deserve it.
* Click here to become a fan of the YEP on Facebook.
"It's hard to understand or explain the form since the turn of the year because it's been like chalk and cheese but your season comes down to where you finish after 46 games, not 23.
"The most important thing was always getting out of League One, however it happened.
"A lot of people assumed at Christmas that Leeds were guaranteed to finish in the top two and probably win the league. You couldn't really see anyone stopping them, but they've had very little consistency since then.
"It's either been great performances or poor performances with nothing in between.
"That puts a lot of pressure on the players but they've still got the chance to do it and that's a big bonus after everything that's gone on.
"It would be a crying shame if promotion gets away because the players couldn't have given themselves a better chance."
United will spend this week building up to their last away game of the season against Charlton at The Valley, a meeting between the two clubs who began the term as leading candidates for the League One title.
Charlton led the division for several weeks before allowing Leeds to assume control in September, but United lost first place on the weekend of their FA Cup fourth-round tie at Tottenham Hotspur, giving way to a Norwich side that did not look back.
City's promotion was confirmed by their 1-0 win at Charlton last weekend, a result which effectively guaranteed them the title in the process.
Leeds were held to a goalless draw by Charlton at Elland Road at the start of October on a windswept day which negated both teams and offered neither squad great insight into the other.
The mixed form experienced by United has been replicated in part by Phil Parkinson's squad, who have dropped points regularly since the turn of the year.
A run of one win from seven games in January and February held Charlton back at a crucial time.
Their loss at home to Norwich left the club three points behind Leeds with an inferior goal difference, but Parkinson was upbeat afterwards, saying: "We will keep going. It's all there to play for.
"It's so unpredictable and tense at this time of the year. You need players with courage to get on the ball and pass it and you need players who can stand up physically to every challenge.
"As we've been saying all along, there are so many twists and turns in this promotion race.
"You just have to look at last Saturday's results – Gillingham had three centre-halves out and I couldn't see Leeds losing, but Leeds were 3-1 down at half-time."
Charlton's campaign has rested on their home form and Norwich were only the third team to win at The Valley this season, following on from Brighton and Leyton Orient.
United's last visit to the ground came in 2003 when James Milner's early goal earned them a 1-0 win and United's record at Charlton is excellent.
Their previous three appearances there all yielded victories, including a 6-1 rout seven years ago.
Charlton received a boost last week with the return of 13-goal striker Deon Burton from a knee injury but Leeds will take a strong squad to The Valley with the vast majority of their senior professionals available.
Only Jason Crowe and Patrick Kisnorbo will be unavailable due to recent operations.
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