Play-offs will be a tall order for Leeds - but can they avoid drop zone?

Leeds are without a win from their last five league games and will look to stop the rot at Elland Road tomorrow with the Championship visit of third-bottom Bristol City. Raynor believes a home victory would be particularly valuable both to get 17th-placed United closer to the top six (Leeds are currently 13 points adrift) and to boot further clear of the dropzone, which they are currently eight points clear of.

The Whites’ no 2 admits United face a tall order to resurrect their play-offs push which has been all but derailed by back-to-back defeats to promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday, but the 49-year-old is reluctant to abandon all hope.

Raynor is also aware that defeat at Elland Road on Saturday, combined with a a win for fourth-bottom Rotherham at Cardiff would leave Leeds just five points clear of the dropzone.

Asked what United’s aims were for the rest of the season, Raynor admitted: “We’re not going to shout from the rooftops ‘we’re going to make the play-offs’. But you’ve got to be optimistic and see where it goes.

“If we can string a run together you never know, but it’s going to be a tall order.

“We want to try and have the best run-in towards the end of the season and see where it takes us and, if we’re lucky to get in touch and we can get a bit of momentum going, especially with the crowd that would be behind us at Elland Road, then you never know. Let’s say ‘never say never’ but it will be a tall order.”

Admitting that United also needed to look over the shoulder at present, Raynor stressed: “You have got to be aware of it. You have got to be aware of where you are in the table and where these games affect you and the points tally. But we’ve just got to accumulate as many points as we can, take it game by game and see where it takes us.

“Saturday is a big game. It’s a home game at Elland Road and every game is massive game at Elland Road and what we’ve found is that teams really raise their game.

“It was something when we were at Rotherham - we looked for the Leeds game, we looked for the big games, we looked for your Derby County and your Leeds, and Bristol City will have done the same.

“Coming up into the Championship, that will be one of the games they will have looked at and thought ‘can’t wait to play at Elland Road.’

“You find that with the players, that they can’t wait to get out there.”

Tomorrow’s opponents currently sit in the relegation zone but the Robins showed their capabilities by producing a 1-0 victory against Middlesbrough last weekend at Ashton Gate under caretaker boss John Pemberton.