'Achieve success' - Leeds United ambition clear as key squad figure speaks for first time since safety secured
Leeds United are mathematically safe from relegation but will want to continue their momentum through two more Premier League games.
Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu praised his side’s determination to fight back at Tottenham Hotspur - with an encouraging early look ahead to next season.
Ampadu enjoyed another excellent night in central midfield as Leeds, already safe from relegation, fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday. The Whites weren’t at their free-flowing best and went behind early in the second-half through Mathys Tel’s well-placed effort.
But skipper Ampadu showed bravery in challenging for a ball in the Spurs area and took a hit from Tel’s high boot, which referee Jarred Gillett not only missed, but he failed to stop play for the head injury. He was eventually helped out by VAR and awarded a penalty which Dominic Calvert-Lewin confidently buried.
That changed the mood inside a tense stadium and Leeds kicked on, coming within inches of a dramatic late winner when Antonin Kinsky somehow tipped Sean Longstaff’s effort onto the crossbar. Farke’s side looked the more likely to win it but can still be proud of the point.
“Obviously, we knew before the game that it was going to be a very good, very difficult game,” Ampadu told LUTV after claiming his Player of the Match award. “We knew they were going to start quick, their fans were going to be behind them as we know what they are trying to achieve.
“We knew it was going to be a very difficult game and they made it a difficult game [with] their high energy, high intensity. They have such a good team with a lot of quality players.
“To go one-nil down here and the atmosphere, how it is, it can be very difficult. But I think one thing that we have shown all the way through the season is that great determination to get back into the game.”
Monday’s battling draw is evidence, should anyone need it, that Leeds aren’t planning their summer holidays just yet. Ampadu and his teammates enjoyed a nice moment with the travelling fans after full-time but focus will quickly turn to Brighton at home on Sunday.
Leeds are now seven unbeaten in the league and will see no reason they can’t end the season nine without defeat. Such a run would set the precedent for starting strong on the other side of summer and Ampadu is already thinking about how his side can kick on following a brilliant top-flight return.
“I think we have shown from the very start that we want to achieve a lot of success here,” the Whites skipper added. “We know it is going to be a long way to go and we definitely can’t get carried away just yet.
“We need to put a lot of hard work in. Obviously, we have got two games to finish off this season very strong and build some positivity to next year.”