Ethan Ampadu's telling Leeds United squad 'confidence' verdict after pre-Fulham double injury blow
Daniel Farke is getting the best out of his entire Leeds United squad at the moment.
Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu has outlined the squad’s ‘confidence’ in every teammate following a string of impressive performances by first-team fringe players.
Some more prominent Leeds starters have fallen victim to injury in recent weeks with the likes of Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon and Sean Longstaff all missing periods of football. Against Fulham on Saturday, the Whites were without Anton Stach and Jaka Bijol who picked up muscle injuries a day beforehand.
Stach and Bijol have been among Leeds’ best performers in recent weeks but in their absence on Saturday, others stepped up. James Justin - who had been covering for Bogle at right wing-back - seamlessly slotted into the back three while Ilia Gruev covered huge ground alongside Ampadu.
Sebastiaan Bornauw has also contributed to brilliant recent performances while Karl Darlow earned his first clean sheet of the season in place of Lucas Perri over the weekend. That shutout looked set to end with a goalless draw but for Lukas Nmecha, who poked home Ethan Ampadu’s tempting cross in added-time.
“We have been building a lot of positivity over the last few weeks, few months, performance-wise and results-wise,” Ampadu told LUTV after the win. “Obviously, the last league game [at Newcastle] we lost in such a disappointing way at the end, so to come back here at home in front of the fans and win like that was great.
“Everyone has full confidence in every single member of this squad, where whenever someone is called upon, they always seem to perform at the minute. Everyone here deserves a clean sheet at the minute as well.
“There have been a lot of special nights here, special days, special results here that I have been part of. It is another one today. In the reverse fixture, the way we lost at the end and the way they celebrated, rightly so, on the day they won the game, we took that.”
Ethan Ampadu on Leeds United’s Terry Yorath tributes
Saturday’s game took on special meaning for all involved with Leeds, it being the first at Elland Road since the tragic passing of club legend Terry Yorath last week, aged 75. Yorath made 199 appearances for the Whites and was part of Don Revie’s 1973/74 First Division title-winning squad.
Yorath was also a compatriot of Ampadu, Rodon, Darlow and out-injured winger Daniel James. Ahead of kick-off on Saturday, a minute’s applause was held in tribute to the Elland Road legend while both sets of players wore black armbands.
“I think first of all, the reception that the players, the fans, even Fulham gave Terry before the game was special,” Ampadu added. “And that shows how together this club is. It was obviously very special to win today.”