Leeds ‘need to upgrade on Joel Piroe’ after what happened v Portsmouth
Joel Piroe endured a miserable afternoon in Leeds’ 1-0 loss to Portsmouth on Sunday.
The Whites relinquished their lead at the Championship summit and find themselves level on points with Sheffield United with 10 matches left to play.
The race for automatic promotion is set to go down to the wire with third-placed Burnley just two points behind the top two.
Leeds need to upgrade on Piroe if they are promoted
Piroe has notched 15 goals in the second tier for the Peacocks this season but he may not be clinical enough to make the step up to the Premier League.
This was evident in the loss to Pompey (9 March) as he missed two glorious chances that could have given Daniel Farke’s side victory.
The first opportunity was a shot that went straight at Nicolas Schmid but the second was the worst, as the Dutchman skied his effort over an open goal after Manor Solomon had rounded the goalkeeper.
Farke needs full focus from Leeds players
For now though, focus must be on the last 10 matches and ensuring that the Whites do enough to secure automatic promotion.
Piroe must forget about the misses at Fratton Park and pick himself back up for the Elland Road clash with Millwall (12 March) and the other remaining nine matches.
| Stats (Championship) | Goals | Assists |
| Piroe | 15 | 6 |
The 25-year-old could be a solid backup striker in the top-flight but he cannot be the man that Leeds place their survival hopes upon.
The likes of Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester are likely to come straight back down with the gap between the two divisions seemingly at an all-time high.
Therefore, the Whites need a proven goalscorer at the top-level to give them the best chance of maintaining their Premier League status if they are promoted at the end of the season.
Interest in Tammy Abraham is a positive sign and suggests that the Yorkshire club are aware that they need a new number nine, but the chances of signing the Roma star are small with already established top-flight clubs also monitoring the former Chelsea ace.
One thing is for sure, Leeds need a new striker if they manage to hold on to their promotion place.