Leeds United boss Daniel Farke issues Ipswich Town vow | OneFootball

Daniel Farke has admitted that he will be the first to congratulate Ipswich Town if they secure automatic promotion but made it clear Leeds United are still pushing hard for automatic promotion.

Leeds suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss to QPR on Friday night, which was a huge blow in their fight for a top-two place.

The Whites remain above Ipswich in the table but now have just one game to play compared to Town's three.

Two goals either side of half-time secured the London club’s place in the second division for another year, denting Leeds’ Premier League hopes in the process.

Farke’s side will now go into their final game clash with Southampton with their fate out of their hands unless the Tractor Boys lose both of their games in hand.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Farke sent a defiant message to his promotion rivals that his team won’t give up on automatic promotion until it’s mathematically possible.

However, he conceded that Ipswich will be fully deserving of a place in the top flight if they can win their next two games and vowed to be the first to congratulate them if they get the job done.

“I would’ve loved to take the pressure away by being promoted after today, from us [it] would be much better,” said Farke.

“It is no longer in our hands anymore, it is not in our hands, so the race is not over but congratulations to Leicester because they are promoted and it is well deserved.

“But, in comparison to Ipswich, nothing is over.

“If they win their next two games, then I’ll be the first one to come out and say ‘congratulations, you deserve it’ but if they don’t win the next two games then we have everything to play for in the last game, and that is what we definitely will do.

“We are in the chasing role again since day one.

“One thing is for sure, we will never give up until it’s theoretically done.

“I spoke before, there are two bullets, first is automatic promotion, the second is the play-offs.

“We have the second bullet, and at the moment it’s perhaps even a bit more realistic to speak about it, okay, but as long as we have a chance I’m far away from giving up on that.

“We are playing too much of a really good season, 90 points after 45 games, so this is sometimes crazy.

“As long as we have a chance, we try everything in order to try and climb, perhaps even if it’s in the final game, this is what we’re trying to do.

“If this is not possible, then we go for the second bullet, but for now we’ll concentrate on the first.”

Leeds United league position

Leeds sit second in the Championship table despite their 4-0 loss but could fall to third on Saturday evening when Ipswich travel to play-off chasing Hull City.

Kieran McKenna’s side has not played since 13 April, but have not won any of their last three games.

Two wins from their final three games will be enough to secure promotion to the Premier League.

They will face Coventry City and Huddersfield Town in their final two fixtures.

QPR disaster takes pressure off Ipswich

Ipswich can now afford a slip-up and still secure promotion to the Premier League.

This was a huge missed opportunity from Leeds to pile on the pressure on the Suffolk outfit, especially given their advantage of playing first in the weekend.

Leeds will now have to sit and wait for the next few days, and could see their top two hopes end without kicking a ball due to Ipswich’s games in hand.

While Farke is right to assure his squad that they still have a play-off place, that doesn’t hide how disappointing a result it was at Loftus Road given the significance of the game.