Leeds United had to settle for the play-offs after a disastrous run over Easter saw them miss out on automatic promotion.

Marcelo Bielsa's side will still believe they can seal a return to the Premier League and face Derby in the first leg of their play-off semi-final this evening.

However, Burnley forward Peter Crouch believes that the Whites will struggle to secure promotion after their late wobble, which saw them end the season losing three and drawing one of their last four.

"You’d think Leeds would go up, but I think they have run out of steam at the worst possible moment," the ex-England man wrote in his regular Daily Mail column.

[ad_pod ]

"The momentum is with Aston Villa in the Championship play-offs and they will be looking to make home advantage count against West Bromwich in Saturday’s first leg of their semi-final."

Despite that, Villa will take encouragement from the fact they comfortably beat Derby twice in the league and if they overcome the Rams over two legs they will be just 90 minutes away from the top-flight.

The Verdict

You can understand Crouch's reasoning as Leeds have fallen apart somewhat in the past few weeks and the Wigan loss will be looked at as a defining moment if they don't go up.

But, similar was said about Fulham last season when they failed to beat Birmingham on the last day which would've secured automatic promotion, yet they still went up.

So, Leeds will still feel they can go up and they've beaten the other sides in the play-offs over the course of the season and obviously finished above them in the league, so they have nothing to fear.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.