Ritchie rates Leeds real contenders

Dec 10 2007 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

FORMER Leeds player and coach Andy Ritchie believes his old club have what it takes to clinch automatic promotion.

Saturday’s was their ninth win in 10 home league games and 15th in 19 matches overall, and were it not for their 15-point deduction, they would be top by a clear 13 points rather than fifth.

“They’re a good side,” said the Town boss. “They get the ball up to the front two quickly and put you under a lot of pressure.”

Jermaine Beckford’s double took his season’s tally to 13, and former frontman Ritchie added: “He’s young and he’s scoring a lot of goals, and Dennis (Wise) will be pleased with that aspect.

“He did very well on loan at Scunthorpe last season, and he’s come back to Leeds and starting doing it for them.

“While there are still some areas of his game to work on, the potential is there, and he and (Tresor) Kandol work well together and are a handful.”

The defeat matched Town’s previous heaviest this season (at Walsall in October) and was Leeds’ best win, beating the 4-1 home result against Southend back in August.

It was Town’s second-heaviest defeat in 63 competitive clashes with Leeds, the worst being 5-0 at Elland Road in 1946-47.