Leeds United aiming to sign off with victory

If it is to be his last game in charge Steve Evans is determined to make sure his Leeds United team end on a high at Preston this Saturday.
Charlie Taylor receives the Leeds United player of the year trophy from Norman Hunter.Charlie Taylor receives the Leeds United player of the year trophy from Norman Hunter.
Charlie Taylor receives the Leeds United player of the year trophy from Norman Hunter.

The final game of a season that has never really got going for the Whites ends with another game against a former Leeds manager with Simon Grayson’s Preston providing the opposition in a midday kick-off.

Victory would give United a 12th place finish in the Sky Bet Championship and ensure they finish only two spots and one point behind the top 10 target that Evans set when he first saw what he had at his disposal at the club on taking over from Uwe Rosler.

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Evans admitted that Leeds were only a mid-table team at this point, but vowed to turn them into promotion contenders next term if given a second year in charge and a pre-season when improvements could be made to the squad.

He said: “You need more quality if you’re going to be a genuine competitor next season – which this club will be.

“This club will sign good players and the team and the squad will be significantly stronger.

“The real quality players in our dressing room need more quality to help them. They’ll get better with better players around them. It’s an old football saying but it’s true.”

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“I don’t think Mr Cellino is misguided about whether we need to be stronger. He wants to build a stronger team and in fairness to him, some players who looked good last summer haven’t produced over the season.

“As president you support the head coach and if your head coach gets the players or the recruitment wrong, the president has to take what comes with that. I’ve always maintained that if you don’t get your recruitment right you don’t challenge for honours.

“Anywhere between four and six players would need to arrive in the summer. There’s no point in us signing any more ‘if, buts or maybe’ players. We’re not a club who should be keeping mid-table Championship players around. They have to be somewhere else.

“If you’re head coach, when you look to the bench you have to see some top-six Championship players sitting there. When you change things, you have to know you’re bringing some real quality on.

“The Championship is unrelenting. You need 21, 22 established top six players.”