THOMAS CHRISTIANSEN: WE NEED TO BUILD

THOMAS CHRISTIANSEN: WE NEED TO BUILD

Head coach on Aston Villa clash.

Leeds United head coach Thomas Christiansen has challenged his side to go on a winning run in the Sky Bet Championship.

Optimism is high in camp after the recent home win against Middlesbrough and away victory at Barnsley in the past fortnight.

The Whites entertain Aston Villa at Elland Road on Friday evening under the floodlights.

“I believe we are in a better way, we still have many things to improve, but the response of the players has been very positive in the past three games and this is the way forward," said Christiansen.

“I’ve learnt a lot from both the good and bad moments that we have had and I hope we have passed the bad moments now.

“There is more confidence in the team, it was positive also to keep a clean sheet against Barnsley after several games without doing it.

“We need to build upon this, it is important to take two wins in a row and this is our mission and target for Friday.

“I believe Aston Villa are one of the strongest teams in the Championship, they have a lot of quality in their side.

“It’s a six point game as we always say in these situations, we are coming up against a very strong and tough opponent.

“We will need to reach the levels that we did against Middlesbrough if we want to take the three points on Friday.

“Our fans will be a big part for us on Friday, they were fantastic against Middlesbrough and in the away game at Barnsley, we feel that and need to feel it again at Elland Road.”

Christiansen also gave an injury update on trio Pierre-Michel Lasogga, Stuart Dallas and Eunan O’Kane.

“Pierre, and Stuart will be out of the game tomorrow, Eunan O’Kane has a possibility.

“There was a possibility for Stuart to be available, but I don’t want to take that risk, it is important to get him as fit as soon as possible.

“Pierre has been training individually and he is likely to rejoin with the rest of the team at the start of next week.”

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