After Southampton’s defeat to Bristol City, Daniel Farke refused to make any statement about Leeds United, even though he accepted Leicester City. The Foxes have looked unstoppable at the top of the Championship since the first weeks of the campaign and Farke admitted they will be hard to catch.

The Whites recorded their seventh successive win away at Swansea City on Tuesday night and climbed to second in the standings after defeating the Saints at Ashton Gate. Hampshire still have a game in hand and Farke was reluctant to start talking about key nights with the dynamics of the night’s results fluctuating.

The German, who has won two of the last five titles at this level, continues to talk up his win total and points average as Leeds push towards the spring. Farke would never say never, but a 12-point deficit to Leicester with 14 games to go looks threatening.

“Winning is important for us,” said Farke when asked about the significance of Southampton’s defeat. “It’s just about us, just about what we do, and about our points, our points average.

“I said before that if you want to finish first, you need a specific number of wins in the season. We are on a good run at the moment and if you want to finish top of the league you need a specific number of points per game.

“We are also on a top path at the moment, with a better average of points than two. So that’s pretty, pretty impressive. In the last twenty years, an average of two points has usually always been enough to finish in first place.

“It’s going to be difficult this season with Leicester, but overall we’re playing the best season, in terms of points, in the history of this club, and that’s pretty impressive. This is after a really tough year for the boys, after a tough turnaround in the summer.

“They deserve all the praise, but also the staff, how close we are at the moment. The club is exceptional and it’s a good feeling at the moment.”