Sky Sports pundit makes fixture claim for Leeds in hunt for sharpness after break
Sky Sports pundit Sue Smith has suggested that Leeds United have friendlies with non-league sides before a return to action in the Championship.
Smith believes that it would help clubs from the Premier League and lower regain their match sharpness before the footballing calendar resumes.
Leeds have nine games left to play, with Marcelo Bielsa’s men holding a seven-point gap to Fulham in third place as they bid for promotion once again.
Smith claimed that the majority of games will sell-out after the break with the demand for football rising, although that happens at Elland Road every week anyway.
“So for the Premier League and Championship clubs to play ‘pre-season’ games at non-league and lower grounds would provide a much-needed boost to help them get through this,” she wrote for the Yorkshire Post.
“By the time we get playing again, the appetite for football will probably mean a lot of matches would sell out.”
It wouldn’t be a bad idea, but with the footballing calendar already delayed until the 30th of April, the EFL and FA will want this season concluded as soon as possible.
The FA confirmed that the season can go past the beginning of June if needs be, so there is plenty of time for that to happen alongside Smith’s suggestion.
Having said that, BBC journalist Simon Stone revealed that EFL clubs, at this moment, can return to training as early as the 3rd of April – so they would have at least a month of training before the first fixture back as it stands.
Marcelo Bielsa and his coaching staff would be able to get his squad back into shape with relative ease should they follow his methods, with training games such as Murderball enough to get back that match sharpness at Thorp Arch if needed.
In other Leeds United news, Whites player wears training kit of former club whilst recording home workout