ONE-TIME Town managerial candidate Kevin Blackwell believes his former club Leeds will return to the top - even if they have to start the journey from League I.

The Whites are in a grim battle to maintain Championship status and avoid going down alongside Blackwell's Luton, whose drop was confirmed by last Friday's 1-0 defeat at Derby.

The Rams are last-day hosts of Leeds, who are a point off the safety zone with two games to go.

Ahead of tomorrow's Leeds versus Ipswich showdown, when relegation for the Elland Road club would be confirmed if they lost while Hull won at Cardiff, Blackwell, left, said: "It breaks my heart to see the club where they are, but they will be back.

"They are too big and too well-respected not to be."

Blackwell, who took Leeds to the Championship play-off final last season, added: "There are Leeds fans everywhere and Leeds will be a great club again. There's no question about that.

"I don't care which clubs you talk about – no-one can outdo the supporters of Leeds United."