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Leeds 1 Brighton 1. Getting a bit more worried

Leeds scraped a draw at the weekend against Brighton with another late late show.

snodgrass goal brighton

A Robert Snodgrass goal in the 95th minute secured a point against the relegation threatened Seagulls who were down to ten men for the last quarter of the match.

Albion took the lead with a somewhat dubious decision by the referee when Paddy Kisnorbo and Richard Naylor were adjudged to have brought down Glenn Murray just inside the box.

murray goal brighton

A little soft for my liking, but nethertheless it was coming and Murray stepped up to score himself and Leeds were staring a second home defeat in a row in the face.

Tuesday's defeat to Walsall was our first home league defeat since January 2009 as the Whites went down with a whimper, it looked liked de ja bloody vu on saturday.

But after the red card for defender Adam Virgo for a lunge on Leeds winger Max Gradel, Leeds didn't exactly turn on the pressure but a Gradel cross to the far post was headed across goal by Kisnorbo for Snoddy to hammer home deep into injury time.

But it can't hide the fact that again Leeds were poor. Against a team struggling at the bottom these three home games in a row should've yielded at least 7 points, so far we have just one.

Sending off brighton

And tuesday night's game against Oldham is again a game we should win. Oldham are the lowest scorers in the league and are also fighting off relegation.

But seeing how Leeds are playing, they must fancy their chances like anyone.

Grayson again made changes to his line up after the Walsall debacle, in which he said wholesale changes would be made and that any of the players could've been taken off at half time, to see if it would make an impact. It didn't.

After a fine performance against Leyton Orient, only Beckford was brought in against Walsall but the same midfield which was free flowing and dominant, was slack and leggy against the Saddlers. Only at Elland Road.

For the Brighton match it was all change as Johnson moved out wide, Doyle came in to partner Kilkenny and Howson for some inexplicable reason was moved out wide right where he is ineffective, which has been shown on numerous occasions, not his fault, it's just not his position.

Snodgrass was left out, as was Gradel and Becchio. McSheffrey started up front with Beckford and Hughes and Kisnorbo returned to the back four.

kisnorbo brighton

The defensive changes obviously worked to a degree as we didn't conceed from open play, it was a penalty which did it. So maybe that's being sorted out. Thanks in no small part to Kisnorbo, a consistent performer who breeds confidence.

But everywhere else was a disaster again. The same team who would score for fun between August and January was again struggling.

I wish I could put my finger on whats going wrong, I honestly can't though. Genuinely.

It could be all manner of things, the number of games creating tiredness, players not coping with the pressure all of a sudden, rumours of players thinking their too good for this league after the Man U win and think they can just 'turn up' and win? Who knows.

But the squad is no different to the one who registered only one defeat in the league between opening day and January 16th. No different to the side who were top of the league by ten points in december. The same squad who had only conceeded 11 goals in four months and scored a shedload more.

grayson brighton

It perplexes me as to what has happened. But Simon Grayson is the only man I think can thurn this around, and I have total faith in him.

Now I am aware that teams have blips during a season and the chances of us losing just one game all season were slim, but we have now lost three more games in a month.

It seems though that other teams don't want to go up much either. Norwich lost again at the weekend, their second defeat in three games meaning that top spot is still up for grabs. Charlton went five games without a win before their victory over Yeovil at the weekend.

It means now that it's getting very tight. Norwich top on 66, with Leeds' last gasp equaliser meaning they stay second with 63 points and with a game in hand (Walsall was another game in hand wasted), with Colchester 3rd on 62 points and Charlton 4th on 60 points.

Creeping up now are Swindon on 56 points and have two games in hand over the top four bar Leeds, who they have just one game in hand over. A run of 11 games without defeat, with strikers Charlie Austin and Billy Paynter scoring 30 goals between, have them as dark horses for automatic promotion.

It's getting more and more nerve wracking now. Before January 3rd, Leeds had a lead of 10 poins on top of the table at one point. Gone. But Norwich were looking insurmountable in the last couple of weeks but now are also having a blip with two defeats in 3 games.

Nothing is for certain but from a Leeds perspective, Oldham can't hold any fear. The last gasp goals against Orient and Brighton have saved them a point from the jaws of defeat, points that could be crucial, but they need to gain some confidence back.

Home against Oldham on a cold tuesday night with a low attendance might not seem a great time, but for God's sake, who cares when it is, just bloody do it Leeds!!