Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell is prepared to quit Elland Road after receiving hate mail from fans following the side's loss of form in the race for automatic promotion.

The abuse from a minority of supporters has, according to reports, included threats of physical violence and the 47-year-old fears for the safety of his family.

The Elland Road club have not won in six games and have failed to score in over six hours after moving to within three points of second-placed Sheffield United.

However, Leeds' failure to take advantage of the Blades' wobble has seen their Yorkshire rivals embark on the Easter programme with a nine-point lead and only four games remaining.

Blackwell has led the west Yorkshire side to a guaranteed play-off spot in just his second year in charge at Elland Road but now he has revealed the hate mail could prompt him to leave his job.

He told the Yorkshire Post: "If people are not happy with what I'm doing, I don't have to hang around here. If they don't want me, then that's the way it is going to be.

"When I get threats to my well-being, you have to wonder why people do the job sometimes. Why it is happening now, I don't know.

"Frustration has a terrible way of manifesting itself, but don't people think we are frustrated too?"

Blackwell, who carved his reputation during a 17-year partnership with current Blades boss Neil Warnock before his acrimonious departure from Bramall Lane in July 2003, has so far refused to involve the police.

Leeds yesterday issued a statement of support for the manager and condemned the those responsible for sending the threatening mail.

Leeds host champions Reading tomorrow before travelling to Bramall Lane on Tuesday night for a match which may be academic as, results permitting, the Blades may already have secured promotion to the Premiership.