Leeds United manager Simon Grayson believes his side can
achieve promotion back to the Championship this season, and is
already eyeing the return of Premier League football to Elland
Road.
The former Blackpool boss only took up residence in the Whites'
hot-seat in December following the sacking of Gary McAllister.
And after a mid-season blip that reached its nadir in February
with consecutive defeats at Huddersfield and Hereford, United have
since gone five league games unbeaten to rise back into the League
1 play-off places.
And, in a video interview with Nationwide, Grayson believes
Leeds can still catch second-placed Peterborough United to claim
automatic promotion, before setting his sights further afield to a
return to the top flight.
“The club deserves to be in the Premiership,” he said. “We have
to try and eventually get back in the Championship, where the club
deserves to be at the very least. And then over the next few years
you try and progress back into the Premiership. We have to set our
sights high.
“We’re on a decent run at the moment. Our first aim is to make sure
we’re in the playoffs, but the top two is still catchable for
us.”
The Whites have won six home games on the trot, and a victory over
Swindon on Saturday will be the first time Leeds have won seven
successive matches on their own turf since 1999, when they were in
the Premier League.
And Grayson insists such stats don’t add extra pressure, but
instead provide inspiration in their quest to return the club to
the higher echelons of the football ladder.
“You can always compare teams back to the past. When you’ve got the
size and magnitude and tradition of a club like Leeds your always
going to draw from history," he said.
"What you have to do is try and inspire yourself to replicate
those days, and at this moment in time we’re a long way from
that.
“The club has been through a lot of turmoil and it’s going to be a
long process, it doesn’t happen overnight.
“The club deserves to be in the Premiership with the facilities and
the fan base. Everything is there in place outside of actually
being in the next two divisions.”