Dan James reveals defiant Leeds United dressing room mood as West Brom clash offers chance to ease pressure — YEP 16/8/24
By Kyle Newbould
Leeds United face Championship promotion rivals West Brom on
Saturday.
Dan James insists Leeds United will head to West Brom with
confidence as they look to ease early pressure with a first win of the season.
Leeds have endured a tough first week of the campaign both
on and off the pitch, with last week’s dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Portsmouth
proving to be the least of their concerns. Daniel Farke’s side have since been
knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a far-superior Middlesbrough and seen
talismanic forward Georginio Rutter all but seal a move to Brighton and Hove
Albion, who triggered his £40million release clause just hours before it was
due to expire.
The season is still in its infancy but discontent is already
growing among supporters ahead of what looks set to be a tough first away-day
of the campaign, with West Brom looking sharp in their opening-day 3-1 win at
Queens Park Rangers. James is expected to start on the right and is under no
illusions regarding the task at hand, but he and his Leeds teammates remain
upbeat and are eager to arrest their early slump.
“I think we were a bit disappointed after the first day,”
James told LUTV. “We should have gotten more out of the game, we rescued a
point at the end and maybe could have won it, but we’ve got things to work on.
We need to be confident going into the next game. The mood is good, we still
feel confident, there’s still so many games to go and we’ll be ready for it.
“I think they’re a very good team [West Brom], they’re very
structured in the way they want to play and their understanding is very good.
They are hard to break down and they have quality going forward. So, we have to
be aware of that and go into the game believing in ourselves, but aware of
their threats as well. As a player you want to just play games and get straight
into it. After Wednesday night [at home to Middlesbrough], we want the next
game quick and fast.”
Leeds’ opening run of fixtures is all of a sudden looking
difficult, with Saturday’s trip to West Brom preceding a Yorkshire derby at a
much-improved Sheffield Wednesday before the visits of Hull City and Burnley to
Elland Road. The transfer window closes a day before Hull arrive in LS11 on
August 31 and, with Georginio looking set to join Archie Gray, Crysencio
Summerville and Glen Kamara on the list of first-team exits, there is plenty to
do.
Farke fronted up the media with his typical level-headed
manner on Thursday, but the shopping list continues to grow as time left to
tick everything off reduces. Leeds were already in the market for
reinforcements at full-back and in central midfield before Georginio and
Summerville moved on, with a massive attacking gap left by the latter pair’s
departures.
"We need cover at full-back, a midfielder, a winger or
offensive player and after Georgi (departs) a second offensive player,"
Farke told reporters of his transfer hope on Thursday. "They need the full
package in all areas. You are not a top player unless you deliver goals and
assists. They have to the right personality, mentality and be affordable.
“(It's) not easy to attract this quality. It's easier in the
Premier League. This is what we work on. I know our key people are working hard
behind the scenes. I know when there are no incomings there is stress, but I
talk to them every day and they know what I want. I am carefully optimistic
something will happen."