Many fans blame Ridsdale for Leeds United's current plight

The debt-ridden, relegation-threatened Yorkshire club were recently taken over by a consortium led by Gerald Krasner.

"It seems to be the easy thing to blame the former chairman Peter Ridsdale but there was a plc board behind him who are not blameless," said McKenzie.

"They took a huge gamble on Champions League football and it went wrong, that is not just the chairman's fault."

McKenzie added that he felt Leeds would beat the drop to Division One.

"It is fair to say that they have looked relegation goners for weeks but I now believe they will survive," he added.

"I watched them beat Leicester earlier in the week and they showed so much fight and spirit, you sensed they could survive despite everything that has happened."

Meanwhile, Ernst and Young, the administrators for the club's plc, are about to embark into an inquiry into the actions of the previous board.