Leeds find fighting spirit

LUCAS RADEBE has revealed there have recently been confrontations and arguments in the Leeds camp but it has brought the players closer together in their battle to beat the drop.

Leeds go into the penultimate weekend of the season with their Premiership status still far from secure and with the frightening prospect of facing a last-day nerve-jangler.

United are just three points above the relegation zone, with their fate still in their own hands as they go into the final two games of a wretched campaign at Arsenal on Sunday and at home to Aston Villa a week later.

Interim-manager Peter Reid’s side could be safe by Saturday evening if Champions League-chasing Chelsea beat relegation rivals West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday.

A draw or victory for the Hammers, combined with a defeat for Leeds at Highbury, would set up a grandstand finale no Leeds fan would have envisaged in their wildest nightmares at the start of the season.

But with Leeds floundering in hot water, it is clearly taking its toll on the players according to centre back Radebe, poised to return against the Gunners after a three-match absence with a knee injury.

“Situations like this are difficult because you end up fighting amongst yourselves,” revealed Radebe.

“You all want to do well, but things aren’t going well and you end up having a row. That brings you all together as a group again and that’s the crucial point. You then stick together and form a strong chain bent on getting success,” he said.

Radebe knows though, Leeds are not too good to go down otherwise the troubled club would have guaranteed their top-flight status long ago, but he feels the players are up for the scrap.

“The league doesn’t lie and if you don’t win games you find yourself in a difficult position and that’s what has happened to us,” said Radebe.

“It’s a shame that a big club like Leeds can be in this position, in the dogfight. We have quality players here, though, and it’s still in our hands to make sure we survive,” said Radebe.

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier believes the final game of the season against Chelsea will decide which of the two clubs will progress to the Champions League.

Manchester United and Arsenal have already booked their places with Newcastle currently lying third.

Houllier is excited by the challenge which lies ahead for his players, starting with a match against Manchester City at Anfield on Saturday.

“We have two games left which I consider a semi-final and a final,” he said. “All our focus now must be on Manchester City because we know if we can get through that we will be playing our direct opponents for the Champions League berth in the last game.

“I have to say I’m glad we are playing Chelsea in our final game because that means it is a final for both teams and the outcome is on our own hands. I think that’s the best way to settle it.

Meanwhile, Bruno Cheyrou says he is facing an uncertain future after just one season at Liverpool. The 24-year-old Frenchman could move further down the pecking order for a first-team place if Houllier opts to bring in a new left-sided midfielder in the summer.

Cheyrou said: “It depends on what the boss thinks of me and what he is planning to do, whether he is thinking of bringing someone in who plays in my position. If, for example, two left-sided players arrive and one of them is an attacking midfielder, then I’d have to look at things.

“I signed for four years and if no club comes in for me then I’m going to be here next season. But I’m not the type of person to jack things in just like that,” he said.

Cheyrou has had a difficult campaign, trying to win over the Anfield supporters. Like Senegal duo El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao, he has struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premiership.