Leeds United man echoes Daniel Farke message with 20-word rallying cry ahead of Middlesbrough clash
Leeds United dropped out of the automatic promotion places following Saturday's 1-1 draw at Luton Town.
Joel Piroe insists automatic promotion is still firmly in Leeds United’s hands despite dropping into third following a run of one win in six.
Leeds came from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 at relegation-threatened Luton Town on Saturday, a third consecutive stalemate that has now seen them drop six points since their last win against Millwall. Dan James brilliantly cancelled out Isaiah Jones’ 15th-minute opener at Kenilworth Road but Daniel Farke’s side were unable to build on that momentum.
Burnley’s 2-1 win at Coventry City saw them go top of the Championship as Leeds dropped out of the automatic promotion places for the first time in 2025, having been seven points clear of the Clarets just five weeks ago. The table would have looked even worse, were it not for Sheffield United’s shock 1-0 defeat at Oxford United.
There is almost nothing to separate the top three, with Leeds a point behind Sheffield United and two short of table-topping Burnley with six rounds of action remaining. The third-to-last of those fixtures will see the whites’ two promotion rivals go head to head at Turf Moor and Piroe knows a place in the top-two come May is still his side’s to lose.
In a series of Sunday afternoon posts on his Instagram story, Piroe wrote: “Still everything to play for... 6 more fights and finals to go. We still have everything in our own hands.”
Joel Piroe echoes Daniel Farke message
Leeds will need to improve their own form quickly if they are to stay within reach of Sheffield United and Burnley going into that potentially massive Easter Monday, with the Blades due at turf Moor shortly after Stoke come to Elland Road. Farke’s side are in danger of falling away otherwise and have a tricky trip to in-form Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening.
Farke has regularly pointed towards that meeting between the current top-two as a chance for his side to get back in the driving seat for promotion, with at least one guaranteed to drop points while Leeds will expect to beat Stoke. And the Whites boss echoed that sentiment once again following Saturday’s disappointing draw at Luton.
"Because they [Blades and Burnley still have to] play against each other it's still in our hands I think,” he told the YEP. “We can't influence what happens on other pitches. You just have to concentrate on yourself and this is important. I would have preferred three points today, it would have made life easier but I have to judge what I see. I liked our spirit and togetherness. It's definitely one point gained. Never underestimate a point on the road against a side fighting with the knife between the teeth.
"It's always difficult of course, especially here away at Luton. It's always easier to go in the lead, the opponent has to open a bit more and we can use our strength in counters. Instead the other team can concentrate on being rock solid. I would prefer to be in the lead again at some point in away game to make our life a bit easier. You can have wishes and dreams but they don't all happen in the crunch time and for that you have to dig in and grind results out and that's what we did today."
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