Whatever the result at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, Leeds United boss Javi Gracia won’t be tempted to take a peek at the Premier League table on the trip back to West Yorkshire. Leeds could end the day sitting four points above the relegation zone should they pick up the three points in the capital and pile yet more misery on Chelsea, they could also find themselves back in the bottom three if they were to misfire in the capital.
But, Gracia won’t find himself getting hung up on the table as he attempts to lead his side to survival. In fact, the head coach doesn’t like to pay much attention to the league ladder at all and while it seems likely that he’ll have an idea of his own side’s standing, he is focused entirely on results.
He’s urged his squad to have a similar mentality over the coming weeks and months as United attempt to finally build some form and traction this season. In fact, it was one of the first things he said to the group when he arrived at Elland Road last week, as he stood up to introduce himself and his philosophy for the first time.
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Taking the opportunity to draw a line under what happened before his arrival, Gracia asked his side to focus all their energy on the next game, rather than looking down the line at what’s to come and what each result could mean. It’s tight at the foot of the Premier League with just seven points separating the bottom eight teams at the time of writing, but the head coach is confident that if Leeds concentrate on what they can control, they’ll have more than enough to prolong their stay in the top flight.
“There are not many differences in the teams, many of them are involved in relegation,” Gracia said when asked about the battle at the bottom. “To be honest I don’t like to see the table, before winning, after winning, I don’t like it.
“I like to put all my energy in my work and all my energy in preparing the next game and that’s the way I think we are well prepared to get the points in the next game. When I talked with the players I told them the same.
“I told them: ‘Today we can speak about our situation, it’s our start. All of us know you’re 10 games without winning, all of us know you are in relegation zone, but from today we speak only about the next game. Day by day do your best preparing the next training session and next game and I’m sure if we do that at the end we will hit out target’.”
More than 6,000 Leeds fans bought £40 tickets to watch their side take on Fulham on Tuesday night in the FA Cup and the Whites will be well-backed once more this afternoon at Stamford Bridge with another sold out away end. As always, the fans will provide vocal support and they’ll probably be even more vociferous this afternoon given the bitter rivalry that exists between the two clubs.
Gracia knows how important that support could be and he’s keen to provide the results they deserve.
“I would like for the supporters to tell them thank you because their support in the last game was amazing," he added. “This is something I’d like to reward them with good results, with good play and being together I am sure we’ll be strong.
“It’s something I’d like to keep until the end of the season because I’m sure it will give us more points at the end of the season.”
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