Troy Deeney issues blunt promotion warning to Leeds United and Southampton ahead of play-offs

The pressure is on Leeds United to gain promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs after a "gut-wrenching" end to the regular league season. That is the verdict of former Watford striker Troy Deeney as the Whites look to quickly regroup after missing out on a top-two finish.

United finished third in the Championship after amassing 90 points but came up short in the automatic promotion race as Ipswich Town ended their 22-year top-flight exile. The dreaded play-offs now await Daniel Farke's outfit.

United have failed to win promotion via the end-of-season knockout competition in five previous attempts. Farke's former club Norwich City stand in the Whites' way of a trip to Wembley. The Canaries will be at home for the first leg on Sunday before travelling to Elland Road four days later.

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Fourth-placed Southampton, who have twice beaten United this season, face West Bromwich Albion in the other semi-final. Deeney regards WBA as the underdogs to get promoted.

He told Sky Sports: "You would expect Leeds to go up if everybody plays to the best of their ability. Leeds have got the best team.

"He [Farke] has to believe in that positivity because there is another go. I think they have got to a point now where that's going to be really gut-wrenching. He has obviously got to go back to Norwich with the old affiliation with the club.

"The pressure is on those two teams (Leeds and Southampton). Everyone expects a Leeds-Southampton final so for the other two it's like 'go play, stay in the game and enjoy it.' Those guys can't do that; there is a level of expectation now.

"With the form Leeds are in going into this, that fan-base is going to be a little bit like 'hold on, are we sure we can get up here?' If they go a goal down, that could turn very, very quickly.

"We have all played there (Elland Road) when it is not great. I've played there on an away day and it is a great place when they (the fans) go against the team so that fan-base has really got to rise and get everyone back on side if they want to be successful."