The Watford gap takes on a whole new meaning for Leeds United when they tackle Malky Mackay’s Hornets at Elland Road tomorrow.

A Watford win would sentence United to three successive defeats for the first time in just over a year and keep alive the visitors’ hopes of reaching the play-offs. A Leeds victory, on the other hand, would crush Watford’s slim hopes, leaving a formidable gap of ten points between the teams and reviving United’s promotion bid.

Successive defeats at Millwall and Derby have left just one point between sixth placed United and seventh placed Nottingham Forest, with Millwall two points further behind and Watford among several clubs still hoping to make up lost ground.

Forest face third placed Norwich tonight and will force Leeds out of the top six for the first time since late November if they can follow a 2-0 win over Burnley by avoiding defeat at Norwich, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Watford at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night.

Watford boss Mackay said after his team’s draw with the Canaries: “I am proud of how they performed against a very good team. Play offs? We’ll try our best to win our last five games.”

That should ensure a highly competitive contest at Elland Road and Grayson said: “Watford are still in contention for the play-offs and our reports suggest they played really well against Norwich. Danny Graham is a top goal-scorer who will need close attention from us.

“We should have done a lot better against Derby where the players were hugely disappointed to drop the three points. They can’t wait to put things right on Saturday.”

Asked if the pressure was getting to his players, Grayson replied: “They should love playing at this stage of the season and thriving on what can be achieved. There is more pressure on the teams at or near the bottom of the table.”

Billy Paynter is available for United after completing his three-match ban but Grayson awaits late fitness checks on George McCartney, Robert Snodgrass and Sanchez Watt. “If those three don’t play this weekend I would hope they will be fit for the Reading game next Friday,” said Grayson.

United have decided to resign from the Totesport.Com reserve league at the end of the season. Instead they will concentrate on arranging training ground friendlies which manager Simon Grayson and technical director Gwyn Williams believe are more beneficial for player development.