Simon Grayson is confident of keeping his job even if Leeds United miss out on a place in the promotion play-offs.

Grayson’s men finish their home programme with a 12.45pm kick-off against Burnley tomorrow in front of a full house, knowing victory may not be enough to revive their bid to finish in the top six.

But Grayson, who signed a new three-year contract last July, said: “I have spoken to the chairman about many things and we have progressed as a football club since I have been here. He and I have a long-term relationship and I know if I lose six to eight games on the trot I would obviously be under pressure, but we have had a fantastic season so far.

“I am not getting big-headed but I have no reason to think I will lose my job if we don’t get promoted. The remit at the start of the season was not to get promoted but to make sure we were in the Championship come the end of the season.

“We have done that and we’ve had a good season, so I have no fears of losing my job.”

A win for Nottingham Forest at home to Scunthorpe later in the day tomorrow would leave them in the driving seat for the last play-off place, with Leeds praying for a miraculous set of results on the season’s last day when they go to QPR.

Scunthorpe defeated Forest earlier in the season and trounced leaders QPR last month, so the result at the City Ground is far from a foregone conclusion, while seventh placed Millwall have home advantage against Swansea.

United’s late season slump in form has muted promotion talk among many Leeds fans but Grayson refuses to throw in the towel just yet. He said: “If we do our job and other teams lose it is game on again. As we know, from when we were up there, there is more pressure on the teams at the top than those who are trying to catch up. We were there to be shot at.

“Whatever happens we will all learn from this experience. The match against Burnley has the makings of a great game between two sides who try to entertain and need to win. We owe our fans something and we want to send them away in a positive frame of mind. I think it is highly unlikely that the game will finish 0-0.”

Grayson is confident he will be able to hold on to his best players even if they miss out on promotion and he is keen to add some experience to his squad for next season. He said: “In our financial position we don’t need to sell and we want to keep our best players.

“Maybe we need to add a bit more experience to the squad for next year. We are not going to sign people who are past their sell-by date. They need to have hunger and a willingness to guide some of the younger players along.”

Leeds have lost only one of their last six games against Burnley, winning the rest. Their last home defeat to the Clarets was back in November 2004, and earlier this season Grayson’s charges hit back from two goals down at Turf Moor to win 3-2.

Jonny Howson grabbed the winner with five minutes left, but on the debit side United go into tomorrow’s game without a victory in their last five matches, having taken just two points out of 15. It’s hardly a record to inspire confidence against an in-form team one place and one point above them in the table.

Luciano Becchio (hamstring) and Lloyd Sam (knee) are again expected to be missing ut George McCartney has recovered from illness and is in contention for a return. Meanwhile, midfielder Barry Bannan has been recalled from his loan spell with Leeds by Aston Villa.

*Race for sixth place - current positions with two games to play: 6th Nottingham Forest Pts 69, GD 12, 7th Millwall 67, 17, 8th Burnley 67, 5, 9th Leeds United 66, 9, 10th Hull 64, 4, 11th Leicester 63, 3.