Leeds United left back Junior Firpo believes the pre-season tour of Australia will prove vital to a more positive season for the Whites. Jesse Marsch’s side jet off Down Under on Sunday and are set to face matches against Brisbane Roar, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
The two Premier League sides will hand Leeds much tougher tests than they were subjected to in their opening game of pre-season on Thursday night as they comfortably dispatched Championship side Blackpool 4-0 thanks to goals from Robin Koch, Firpo, Rodrigo Moreno and Mateo Joseph.
Leeds’ flight to Australia is set to include six new signings in their ranks, with Marc Roca, Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Darko Gyabi, Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra all making the trip. Roca played an hour in the win against Blackpool but the other five are yet to get their first taste of action in a Leeds shirt.
READ MORE: Jesse Marsch on 'close to complete' Leeds United win over Blackpool and Whites' recruitment
Speaking to LUTV post-match, Firpo believes that not only will the tour allow the new signings to settle in the group, but a run of positive results against tough opponents will help set them up positively for the season.
He said: “It’s so important [bonding with the new signings] because we will have tougher opponents than we had today [Blackpool]. This will make us feel even more confident for the new season if we go to Australia and beat Villa and Crystal Palace.
“I think this is all that we need, because the last season was difficult with the confidence of all the team and all the players. This pre-season will help us to get every single player confident that we can do a really good season.”
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