Phil Hay confirms Leeds in action today as Klich spotted in full kit
Leeds United are set to step up their preparations ahead of the Cardiff game a week on Sunday with a full game at Thorp Arch today.
Eagled-eyed fans had spotted birthday boy Matesuz Klich (30 today) in full kit on his Instagram account on Saturday morning and wondered if Leeds were playing a friendly.
One fan asked Hay if they were playing and the Athletic journalist said it was set to be an “11 v 11” game.
Leeds set for action on Saturday
Leeds have had a pretty low profile return to Thorp Arch, with Marcelo Bielsa obviously preferring to keep his preparations in house.
Title rivals West Brom have been doing things differently, playing high profile friendlies against Aston Villa and Man United.
They drew 2-2 with Aston Villa last week and played two games against Man United on Friday, winning one of them.
Hay confirmed that the game was going to be in-house today and with the Premier League kicking off next Wednesday, we can’t see Leeds playing any top-flight opposition ahead of the restart.
The one advantage of an in-house game is that it gives Bielsa the chance to run the rule over as many players as possible, with Under-23s possibly set to play a big part in the run-in if any injuries rack up.
The other plus about playing in-house is down to injuries. Bielsa can control the tempo and the aggression of the game, and he’ll be desperate to avoid any injuries ahead of the restart.
He knows the 11 players he wants to put out and he’ll be keen to keep that small group of players as fit as possible and to play as many of the upcoming Championship games as possible.
We’ll keep tabs on the action at Thorp Arch today and bring you more details of the game later on.
In other Leeds United news, Sky Sports pundit: This is what every pundit is saying about Leeds ahead of clash v Cardiff