Former Leeds United and Aston Villa manager David O'Leary is keen to see both clubs return to the Premier League.
The Whites, who have been out of the top flight picture since being relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2003/04 campaign, will next face the Villains in a Championship fixture at Elland Road on Saturday.
Leeds presently find themselves fifth in the league table with 29 points from 18 games, six places and four points ahead of Aston Villa, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
And O’Leary, who feels Leeds are heading in the right direction, after the watching the Yorkshire giants’ performance in their 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the EFL Cup earlier in the week, also backed Aston Villa to fare well under new boss Steve Bruce, with the 58-year-old being optimistic about both his former employers gaining promotion back to the Premier League.
“I hope they can both go up”, he was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.
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“You get Leeds into the top flight and, on a match-day, the whole city is buzzing.
“I watched the Liverpool game on Tuesday and they seem to be going in the right direction which is fabulous.
“It is a great time for Steve Bruce to go in at Aston Villa and it would be no shock to me if he gets them automatically promoted.”
Leeds and Aston Villa both won their last Championship outings, against Rotherham United and Cardiff City respectively last weekend.
