Watford v Leeds United: Daniel Farke confident Whites will not be sidetracked by fatal distractions — Yorkshire Post 29/3/24
Leeds United supporters are in danger of getting square eyes this Easter weekend.
By Stuart Rayner
Since Easter stopped really being a thing at Premier League
level – the top division's only religion these days money – Good Friday and
Easter Monday have largely been left for the second tier to make hay on the
television schedules, and this year it certainly is.
Two Leicester City games kick off at 12.30pm live on Sky,
with two early evening Ipswich Town games – the second at home to automatic
promotion-chasers Southampton, followed by two Leeds matches – at Watford on
Friday, then at home to Hull City on Monday.
It could mean plenty of to-ing and fro-ing in the
Championship table, with the Foxes able to take top spot off Leeds on Friday,
and if they do, Ipswich can knock the Whites out of the automatic promotion
spots for a couple of hours at least.
Leeds will know exactly what their rivals have done on both
days. It could crank up the pressure or open opportunities but manager Daniel
Farke is unconcerned about his players getting distracted.
"They are all mature," he reasons. "it's not
like I'm working in a nursery and it's not like I have to tell them every
minute what they have to do.
"If I was to act like this pretty soon they would think
I was not the leader they needed because they're mature and most of them have
lots to care for with their families.
"They know if they're sitting for 10 hours in front of
a screen it's not possible to concentrate on your own performance in the
evening.
"If they have a look for a few minutes in the hotel
it's no problem at all but we also have our schedule, we have our meetings and
we'll speak about what's necessary.
"They won't be following three games over 90 minutes
but if they have a look I'm not too concerned."
What happens at Ashton Gate, where Leicester are at
lunchtime, and at Ewood Park (where Ipswich are visitors), as well as at St
Mary's, where Leeds would love a favour from Middlesbrough, will have a bearing
on the mood in the Vicarage Road away end, but Farke does not expect it to have
a huge bearing on the grass.
"At least not for myself and I would also reckon not
for the players because there is such a quick turnaround that you have to be
fully concentrated on yourself and what you have to do," he says.
"We know how big a challenge this game will be because
of the quality of Watford, the circumstances and the schedule. Perhaps going
into the stadium it might be something some of the lads are interested in but
during the warm-up you don't think about the table or the points difference,
it's just focusing on the game.
"I don't think it will distract us because it hasn't
distracted us in recent weeks."
