Leeds United had a dent put in their promotion hopes last night with a 1-0 defeat at QPR.
Leeds could have leapfrogged Sheffield United and Norwich City with a victory at Loftus Road. As it was, the loss keeps them in third place and outside the automatic promotion places.
The result was something of a shock as the R’s had lost their last seven Championship matches going into the clash and not won in the league since Boxing Day.
Yet a 49th minute strike from Luke Freeman was enough to secure all three points for Steve McClaren’s men and do the Blades a favour in the process.
What might boost United’s own hopes of reaching the Premier League further was head coach Marcelo Bielsa’s reaction after the result.
When asked if his players were running out of energy, Bielsa told the Yorkshire Post: “Your question doesn’t have any basis because if you watched the game, what you can say is that this team has too much energy.
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“You’re asking me if the team lost energy but what our team has shown in every game is that we have an excess of energy.
“It’s clear that you don’t know what you’re talking about because if there’s something this team doesn’t lack, it’s energy.”
Leeds issues
Bielsa is unlikely to admit it publicly, but one of the concerns when he took charge at Elland Road was the players would suffer burnout.
The Argentine has introduced a high intensity approach which requires improved levels of fitness. It has worked so far, with the Whites having been around the top of the table for most of the season.
However, with Leeds having a small squad there was always a danger of fatigue towards the end of the campaign. Which with only goal difference separating them at the moment, could be a bonus for the Blades.