THE BARCLAYS Premiership is already bracing itself for the Neil Warnock experience, but the Sheffield United manager could find himself upstaged in the controversy stakes next season if Leeds United can negotiate a safe passage back to the top flight through the play-offs.

Death threats, pitch invasions and managers at war: the Yorkshire side have not had a lot to play for in their past two matches but that has not stopped the headline writers from having a field day and Ken Bates from speaking his mind.

The Leeds chairman was quick to condemn the supporters who sent Kevin Blackwell abusive letters two weeks ago after a dip in form and he revealed that he had extracted an apology from those responsible on behalf of his manager. “Kevin got an apology from the Ultras 1919 for their anonymous threat, which they say wasn’t intended to be hurtful or malicious,” Bates said in his programme notes.

The prospect of Leeds returning to the Premiership after two seasons, fitter and leaner and under the guidance of Bates and Blackwell, may not fill the hearts of Manchester United supporters with joy, but if size matters then they deserve to be mixing it with the big boys in the top flight.

Look up from your seat at Elland Road and the giant empty upper tier of the East Stand is all that you can see. The locals may not be willing to turn out to watch Crewe Alexandra but there would not be a spare seat in the house for Premiership football.

“We’ve lost three games this year and nine since the beginning of the season,” Blackwell said. “If you go back to last season, we only lost five of our last 25, so 14 defeats in 70-odd games shows how hard this team is to beat.”

Better teams than Crewe, who have already been relegated, have found it difficult to find a way through the Leeds defence this season and Dario Gradi’s side rarely looked like scoring in a match that was memorable only for David Healy’s fourteenth goal of the season and Steve Stone’s Leeds debut.

The 34-year-old former England and Nottingham Forest midfield player joined the club on a free transfer from Portsmouth last summer but picked up an Achilles injury during his first training session. “It’s a good time for him to show us he can perform with the play-offs coming up,” Blackwell said. “He came on and showed the quality he has got and his desire is so infectious that it gave the players a lift.”

Blackwell summoned Stone from the bench after an hour and, within 14 minutes, his side were ahead when Healy headed home a cross by Gary Kelly. Crewe could have equalised soon after but Gareth Taylor shot wide and Neil Sullivan did well to keep out a close-range strike by Michael Higden.

The final whistle brought a half-hearted pitch invasion during which a steward broke a shoulder. Boys will be boys.