Noel Whelan has bemoaned Leeds United being about to miss out on the Championship playoffs as he believes the current season was a good year for the Whites to push for promotion.
Defeat away at Burton Albion on Saturday, combined with Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday winning, means that Leeds are now looking at an uphill battle in their last two games to finish in the top six.
Many Leeds fans had begun to dream of winning promotion to the Premier League and ending a 13-year absence from the top flight.
But a run of just two wins in nine games looks set to put paid to the Whites' hopes and Whelan feels that the current campaign offered Leeds a good chance of promotion.
He noted that next season, with the clubs coming down from the Premier League, next term will be difficult for Leeds.
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"The teams that will come down from the Premier League for next year – that will not be an easy season, either", Whelan said on BBC Radio Leeds.
"That's why this hurts so much – this was a really good year for Leeds to go for it."
Whelan is not yet giving up hope on Leeds finishing in the playoffs though and believes the Whites must keep fighting, even though they will now not reach the target he had in mind for their final three games.
"It's not all over and you never know what can happen with football, but I think Leeds needed about seven points from these final three games."
