Mateo Joseph is confident the Elland Road crowd will play a 'big part' as Leeds United under-21s look for a playoff final victory over Nottingham Forest. The Whites' academy team will host Nottingham Forest on Monday night, hoping to secure an instant return to Premier League 2 Division 1.
Leeds U21s booked their place in the final with a 2-1 comeback victory over their Aston Villa counterparts at Elland Road. Goals from Joseph and Sonny Perkins were enough to ensure Paco Gallardo's side will now face Forest, who earned an impressive 3-0 knockout victory over West Brom.
Joseph accepts Monday's upcoming encounter is the academy team's 'most important game of the season', and hailed the team's character in the semi-final success over Villa. The young forward also had praise for the club's supporters, and hopes they can play a similar role in the final against Forest.
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Joseph said: “They’ve been great. I think I haven’t seen better fans than Leeds in all my small career. It gives you that extra energy you need, especially in the last minutes of the game. The other day against Villa we needed to stay calm and they gave us the energy we needed to achieve the objective. I think they will play a big part on Monday.”
Victory on Monday night would see Leeds secure a swift return to the top tier of Premier League 2, and Joseph has confirmed that has been the team's target from the outset. He explained: “It would mean a lot, because after getting relegated last year, I had the mindset of getting back to Division 1 because that is where our level is, I think.
"We’re looking forward to it. We lost against West Brom which was a tough defeat, everyone was sad, but the day after we were working really hard and training was good. We knew we had another opportunity, not always in life do you have two opportunities, so we had to take this one. We won in the first half, now we have the second half of the play-offs and we have to win.”
Forest overcame a poor start to the campaign to finish third in the table, just a point behind Leeds. The sides have already traded victories this season, and Joseph insists the hosts will not underestimate the challenge the visitors will pose.
He said: “Nottingham Forest is a team that always fights and tries to win so it will be really difficult. They went through a difficult season at the beginning, they were at the bottom and now they are in the play-offs, so they’ve been through changes and it will be a tough game. We have to be ready and try to win, in front of our fans, who will play a big part.”
Monday's playoff final marks the beginning of an exciting period for Joseph, after the 19-year-old earned a call-up to represent England at the U20 World Cup. The young Lions will travel to Argentina later this month for group-stage fixtures against Iraq, Tunisia, and Uruguay.
Asked about his call-up, Joseph added: “I am really, really happy and excited. I was jumping when I heard the news. I am really happy, I have been working hard a lot, even in the off season.
"So that’s the message, if you work hard you can achieve whatever you want, whatever you have in mind. But first, I have a job to do here before I go.”
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