Brian McDermott admits he is living on borrowed time as Leeds lurch from one nightmare to another.

The Whites have lost six of their last seven games amid the ongoing off-field turmoil at Elland Road. They have collected just 12 points from a possible 48.

Tomorrow, Leeds head to play-off contenders Wigan, who boast one of the Championship’s strongest home records, with McDermott pleading: “We have to be in this together.

“It’s not an easy situation but, from the owners down, we have to be singing from the same song sheet.

“If everything was right at the club then I probably wouldn’t be here and they would have made a decision. But we don’t have that.

“The senior players are going to be really important now, the ones who are playing and the ones who aren’t.

“You always look to them at this stage and you’re only as good as the experienced players at your club.

“I feel disappointed, upset, whatever the words are, and we really need to get a result from somewhere.

“The reason people fail in life is because they give up. Well I won’t give up on this and the players won’t either.”

Managing director David Haigh appeared in the dressing room before Tuesday’s defeat against relegation-threatened Charlton to tell the players why they had not been paid the rest of their wages for March. Half had already been deferred.

McDermott added: “What’s happened here over the past three or four months hasn’t been right.”