Ex-Leeds United man makes Championship promotion pick amid Elland Road atmosphere statement

Former Leeds United man David Prutton expects to see Leeds United pick up the win they need on Saturday against Southampton, but he doesn't think it will be enough to secure automatic promotion. Leeds need something of a minor miracle this weekend as they host the Saints on the final day of the regular Championship season.

After seeing Ipswich Town edge out Coventry City at the CBS Arena on Tuesday night, the Whites are three points back in the race for the top two and they know that only a win will do if they're stand a chance of leapfrogging the Tractor Boys. Leeds also need a favour from local rivals Huddersfield Town, who travel to Portman Road.

The Terriers have all but been relegated this season but Leeds are relying on them to rally one last time in order to pull off a shock and beat Kieran McKenna's side. Any other scenario will see Leeds enter a play-off campaign that they have been desperate to avoid, but that's exactly how Prutton sees Saturday afternoon playing out, with Daniel Farke’s side tipped to finish the season in third with 93 points in the bag.

"I’ll be intrigued to see what the atmosphere is like at Elland Road, because like you said that if Ipswich lose and Leeds win, that goal difference is what would take them up," he said on his Sky Sports Championship Predictions podcast. “However, I mean we’ve not bet at all against Ipswich this season, we discussed earlier on potentially what might happen to them, but my God, they have been there with bells on. It’s an unfortunate stumble at the most important of times at Leeds.

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“They’ve (Ipswich) been phenomenal, it’s been a joy to watch them, the game on Saturday against Hull was great, the game against Coventry, they were effective, and just everything about them. I like to think, unless you’re Norwich, they’ve got that sense of being everyone’s second team this season haven’t they in the Premier League? Because it has broken that three-way dust up between former Premier League teams. So they’ve been great, I’ve enjoyed watching them, I’ve enjoyed interactions with Kieran and all the players that have been involved. I think Leeds beat Southampton 1-0. At Portman Road I'm going to go Ipswich to beat Huddersfield 2-0."

Should Leeds finish third, they'll take on one of Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion or Hull City over two legs in the play-off semi-finals, with a trip to Wembley on May 26 up for grabs. This weekend’s opponents Southampton have already secured fourth spot, meaning they’ll be facing whoever manages to finish fifth from the above trio. As such, despite having little to play for this weekend they’ll be keen to put on a strong showing, gain a psychological advantage over the Whites and enter the play-offs on the back of what would be a first win in four.