Illan Meslier warns against Leeds United complacency vs 'difficult' Coventry City
Leeds United struggled against Saturday’s Championship opponents last season.
Illan Meslier is under no illusions regarding the task at hand this weekend when Leeds United host ‘play-off team’ Coventry City.
The pair meet at Elland Road on Saturday with 13 places and six points between them, with Leeds climbing into the play-off places with a 2-0 win at Cardiff last weekend while Coventry lost 2-1 against Swansea City. It’s been a tough start for the Sky Blues who have won just once, with manager Mark Robins questioning the commitment of some players earlier this week.
Coventry were tipped as early play-off contenders and Leeds know all too well the threat they pose, having drawn this fixture last season before losing a crucial game at the CBS Arena in April. And Meslier isn’t expecting Saturday’s visitors at Elland Road to play like a team sat in 19th.
“It's a difficult team because even if they're in a bad position in the table, they're still a play-off team so it's difficult,” Meslier told LUTV. “It's important not to underestimate them. It will be important to score pretty quick, make sure we keep a clean sheet and protect the three points to make Elland Road happy.
“We know we will travel a lot after Coventry so we just need to be prepared. Analyse the opponent as much as we can - although we know already how they will play because we faced them already. But it's just about taking it game after game, being very focused and taking three points for each game.”
Victory on Saturday would present another encouraging early sign for Leeds, who have recovered from a concerning start to win three of their last four, and key to that has been a renewed defensive strength. Meslier has four clean sheets to his name already and hopes to continue that run during a tricky run of fixtures before October break.
“To be honest, we have a lot of improvement,” he added. “The first matchday we conceded three but after that we have been pretty solid. It's a good start but obviously we can improve. We are on the way, we are getting stronger and we cannot wait to finish strong going into the international break.
“Obviously when you see improvement, we have a lot of players who left the club and a lot who arrived, which changed the chemistry of the team. We need a lot of training and match days to build a good relationship with each other. It's normal that it takes time but we are in the right direction.”