Junior Firpo's demand of Leeds United teammates as warning sent to Sheffield United
Leeds United head to Bramall Lane for a massive Championship clash on Monday.
Junior Firpo believes his Leeds United teammates have the ability to ‘overrun’ Sheffield United on Monday night as they look to increase their lead at the top of the Championship.
Leeds climbed back to the summit following Monday’s dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Sunderland, having briefly fallen behind their Yorkshire rivals. Substitute Pascal Struijk scored twice to light the touch paper on an incredible night at Elland Road, with the momentum proving too much for Sunderland.
Daniel Farke’s side have proven time and time again they can better virtually any Championship opponent physically, with Monday’s win over Sunderland further evidence they can keep it going right until the final whistle. And Firpo expects a similar output when his side go to Bramall Lane.
“I think this time it will be easy to do, because it's a really important game,” Firpo told LUTV when asked how his side can turn focus to Monday night following that win over Sunderland. “I'm not going to say we’re more focused when it's an important game, but we all know as a group it will be easy to get back to this winning mentality.
“I think [we need to] go there, be brave on the ball, play our attacking football, put pressure on them and overrun them. I think we are really fit as a team, we overrun opponents and I think this is what we need to do against Sheffield United.
“This is what we need to do, be brave, be ourselves, try to play attacking football. We will try to do our best. It's an easy game to focus on, it's easy to concentrate. It's a game every player wants to play in and of course, we want to win.”
Leeds’ ability to maintain that intensity through 90 minutes plus added-time is thanks in part to their tremendous depth. Both goals on Monday came via a combination of Joe Rothwell and Struijk, who came off the bench together at 1-0 down.
That depth has allowed Farke to manage numerous long-term injuries throughout the campaign, with the intense competition for minutes keeping current starters on their toes. And Firpo knows the importance of full squad contribution on a Championship title push.
“We had a period with a few players who were playing really well but then got injured, others came into the starting-XI and did really well,” Firpo added of that depth. “We have players like Pascal, who is such an important player for the squad, but when we’re not conceding goals it's difficult for the manager to change the team.
“Then you have players on the bench not even playing any minutes, like Willy Gnonto who is an unbelievable player. This is what shows the depth we have and the good moment our players are having. This is really important if you want to try to win the league.”