Regis Le Bris makes promotion claim as Leeds United’s rivals Sunderland drop points on Saturday

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Results have gone Leeds United’s way in the battle for automatic promotion this weekend as Sheffield United suffered a shock defeat to Hull City and Sunderland dropped points on Saturday.

The race for automatic promotion is already shaping up as a four-club chase. With two of the four clubs in Leeds United and Burnley doing battle on Monday, Leeds might have lost top spot before playing next.

However, Leeds remain top after both Sheffield United and Sunderland did battle on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Chris Wilder commented on the promotion race after his side were beaten by Hull.

Joe Gelhardt’s new side were hammered 3-0 in a shock result on Friday night. Then on Saturday, Regis Le Bris watched his Sunderland side fail to beat struggling Plymouth, who were beaten 5-0 by Burnley.

• READ MORE: Predicted Leeds United XI to take on Burnley on Monday night at Turf Moor

Regis Le Bris discusses promotion race as Sunderland fail to win

Despite Plymouth’s struggles, they managed to secure a 2-2 draw against Sunderland. A game The Black Cats were expected to win, but on-loan Leeds man Darko Gyabi laid on a 90th-minute assist on Saturday.

It saw Plymouth equalise in injury time, and Le Bris spoke after the full-time whistle about the race to go up. He described the Championship as “tough”, with Sunderland four points behind Daniel Farke’s side.

“We are still in a good place, but the league is tough. We have to learn from this experience, manage things differently when we’re feeling a bit more tired, and push ourselves further. It’s still one point.

“But if we want to be in the top bracket of the table, we need to improve,” Le Bris added, on Sunderland’s website. Le Bris was actually linked with taking the job at Leeds, a year before he joined The Black Cats.

What does the Championship table look like ahead of Monday…

With Sheffield United soundly beaten in a shock result, and Sunderland now firmly in fourth-place when it comes to the four sides pushing to finish in the top two, Monday’s clash has now become enormous.

If it wasn’t, already. Leeds face Burnley at Turf Moor on Monday night, a massive game that is now first against third. The Whites are first, while Burnley are in third despite only conceding nine goals all season.

A win for Leeds away from home on Monday night would see Farke’s men go four points clear of Wilder’s men, six of Scott Parker’s Burnley and seven in front of Sunderland. But a win is not going to be easy.