Ex-Huddersfield Town boss reveals visit to Leeds United as he delivers Daniel Farke and Southampton verdicts

Cowley is now in charge of Colchester United but was out of work for just over a year before he landed the job. While away from the dugout, he continued to hone his craft and visited Thorp Arch alongside his brother and assistant Nicky.

Speaking on the Football Daily podcast, Cowley offered an insight into the behind-the-scenes work at Leeds while heaping praise on Farke.

He said: “Nicky and I had the pleasure of spending a day at Leeds before Christmas, watching Daniel work. I was so impressed with him and his staff. It was a matchday minus one, so the day before the QPR game.

"Just the work that he did with the group, really interesting. Obviously, a lot of that group had played under [Marcelo] Bielsa and then they obviously had difficulties under Jesse Marsch. I think Daniel has come in and changed and done it very differently from how Bielsa did it but the players, it felt like had the same level of respect for Daniel as they did for Marcelo. I saw a group that was really together, I saw a real clear way of playing.”

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A midweek win over Swansea City pushed Leeds into second place, although Southampton’s victory at West Bromwich Albion last night (February 16) ousted Leeds from the top two. However, a win against Plymouth Argyle could switch the Whites and the Saints back to their previous positions.

Leeds are currently in a rich vein of form and Cowley believes they have hit their stride at the perfect time. He said: "Offensively, they are a real threat and of course Elland Road, when they get that support base behind them, that is a very, very difficult place for anybody to go.

"They look a team that is finding really, really good form at the most vital time. That's why, I spoke about Southampton and the brilliant job Russell Martin's done, but that is why Southampton could lose one game in five months and find themselves out of the automatic promotion places.”