The once great Yorkshire club is now in the third tier of English football and matters off the pitch saw the club hit with a 15 point penalty at the start of the season.

Despite this, Leeds have fought their way into the top six and with one match of the season remaining, have guaranteed themselves a play-off berth. It means they are just three matches away from winning promotion back to the Championship.

However, the club is waiting to hear the verdict of an independent tribunal which will determine whether the club gets all, some or none of those 15 points returned.

If all 15 are returned the club would almost certainly finish in the top two, ensuring promotion and causing a furious reaction from other clubs.
The tribunal are due to by Thursday, but Kilkenny is preparing himself mentally for a play-off campaign.

The 22-year-old told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “The play-offs are going to be massive in terms of what they mean to Leeds, but I signed for this club because I wanted to play in big games.

“There’s so much riding on the next few weeks and I've seen already that every team raises their game against us.

“I don’t think too many players will be happy about coming to Elland Road to face a crowd of 40,000, but some will expect it to bring the best out of them.

“But when it comes to raising your game, we’ve done that as well as anyone this season. When we play at our peak, I don’t think there's anyone in the division who can handle us.

“We’ve secured our place in the play-offs, but it’s not over yet. I came here to get promoted, not to finish in the top six, and all of our players would say the same.”

Kilkenny admitted that United would carry a heavy weight of expectation and pressure into the play-offs following the club’s high-profile relegation from the Championship last season.

But last Friday’s 1-0 win over Yeovil Town win was their 26th of the season and Leeds are likely to finish the term with a record bettered only by Swansea.

Kilkenny said: “When you come to any big club there's always a lot of pressure.

“In the short time that I've been at Leeds, I’ve found out that a lot of people on the outside seem to hate us.

“I don’t know if that’s because of the success the club’s had in the past or because of how well the club’s doing this season, but you can definitely feel it. We just get our heads down and play football.”

Leeds finish the regular season against relegation-threatened Gillingham at Elland Road on Saturday with a sell-out crowd of around 35,000 expected.