Southampton's Elland Road motivation outlined as Leeds United sent 'authority' warning

Southampton may have little to play for this weekend but they're determined to ‘stamp their authority’ and put a 'dent' in Leeds United ahead of the play-offs. That's according to loanee David Brooks, who has high hopes of adding a second promotion to the Premier League to his CV, having made the step up with parent club Bournemouth previously.

Russell Martin's side have seen form desert them in recent weeks and they travel to Elland Road on the back of losses to Cardiff City, Leicester City and Stoke City in the Championship. A play-off spot is secured, though, and they know that they will have at least two more games to play after this weekend's outing in West Yorkshire.

Leeds, on the other hand, will be doing all they can to bring the curtain down on their campaign this weekend by defying the odds and sneaking into the top two. They need to beat Southampton and hope Ipswich lose at home to Huddersfield Town to do that, with any other scenario resigning the Whites to the play-offs.

Leeds wouldn't meet Southampton in the semi-finals next week, of course, but there's a good chance Saturday's meeting at Elland Road could prove to be something of a dress rehearsal for the play-off final. The south coast outfit are determined to seize the psychological upper hand this weekend then and leave their mark on the Whites ahead of a possible meeting at Wembley Stadium on May 26.

"Momentum can be a very powerful tool in this scenario, so we want to go and try and knock the wind out of their sails a little bit more," Brooks told the Daily Echo. "If we can trip them up, it'll be another little dent so we want to go there and win and try and stamp authority ahead of the playoffs.

"If you'd have asked us a couple of months ago, I think both sides would have hoped it meant a little bit more than it might. I've played Leeds a couple of times away and the atmosphere has always been incredible, so we're aware that we're going into a bit of a hostile environment.

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"I know they've got a slight chance of still getting automatic so they'll be right up for it and trying to do their part and hoping for results elsewhere."

Brooks was linked with a loan move to Leeds in the January transfer window but he ended up joining Southampton, where he has bagged two goals and set up five more in 17 Championship appearances, and he'd dearly love to end his loan with a win at the national stadium.

"If you can guarantee going up through the playoffs it's probably the best way to go," he added. "The boys have just got to embrace that and try and have a really good day out. It would be a memory for everyone to cherish.

"I've played in the playoffs and it didn't go great but we had one and a half very good games in the playoffs and just one half let us down."