Towering Leeds striker Smith keeping feet firmly on ground

However, despite an encouraging start to life at Leeds United that has included three goals in his last two appearances, the 24-year-old has just one focus.

“My focus is on Leeds United,” said Smith to the Yorkshire Post ahead of today’s Championship encounter with Yeovil Town.

“I am focused on getting a good run in the side, getting some goals and putting points on the board for the club.

“So, although I do have that multi-nationality through my dad being Scottish, mum being French and me being born in England, I don’t want to get carried away.

“If the performances improve and I am consistent and scoring goals then, at a club like Leeds, you will always get recognition from above.

“But that is not at the forefront of my mind.”

Such a grounded attitude will come as no surprise to anyone who knows the United striker.

Not only was Smith a late arrival into professional football – he was at University in Manchester this time three years ago, on his way to gaining a 2;1 degree in international business – but he also comes from a supportive family.

Dad Ian, a former professional with Birmingham City, is at every game and as recently as last summer the pair squeezed in a couple of training sessions at a park near the family home in the Worcestershire countryside.

Smith is clearly no ‘flash Harry’, as was evident during this interview in United’s new club shop in the Trinity Shopping Centre.

Running late thanks to the vagaries of the English train network, the Yorkshire Post paid only slight notice to the huge images of two Leeds players that adorn the outside of the shop.

Hence why, halfway through the subsequent interview with the tall striker, we asked: “So, what is it like to see a 20 foot image of yourself in a shopping centre?”

“Er, that’s Sam Byram,” came the reply before Smith, generously it has to be said, added: “But I can see why you thought it was me.”

Having dealt with a lot of Leeds footballers right over the last 15 years, I can honestly say the response from others who have worn the white shirt would have been nowhere near as kind.

It said a lot about Smith’s modest and grounded personna. As, it has to be said, does the verdict on his United career so far.

“It is a big step up,” said Smith of his summer switch from League One Oldham Athletic. “But, slowly but surely, I am adjusting and improving and I can see that within myself.

“I am working with top-class management, coaches and players. And that can only be good for me. Hopefully, there is a lot more to come for me.

“Just working with these players and coaches day in, day out, then if you put in the effort, you are going to see improvements. I am a hard worker, I am pretty relentless in that way.

“I will strive to be the best player I can be. I know I am, by no means, the finished article but seeing improvements is pleasing from a personal point of view.”

Asked what improvements he feels to have made since moving up into the Championship, Smith replied: “I am more mobile than I was at Oldham. My passing and my touch has improved with playing with better players.

“My endurance over the 90 minutes and the tempo of my game is also better. But there is definitely more to come from me.

“I am constantly trying to brush up all the rough edges of my game. Maybe I get stereotyped a bit, as there aren’t too many 6ft 6in strikers in professional football at the moment. You could probably count them on two hands.

“It is a bit of a dying breed so when you do get thrust into the first-team environment, you are going to get stereotyped and people accuse you of being a bit one-dimensional.

“A lot of people are quick to judge weaknesses but it’s sometimes a case of playing to your strengths.

“I definitely know what mine are but, at the same time, I want to work on my weaknesses to get them up to speed.

“But it is none of my concern. My concern is to improve. I know within myself what I need to work on and, hopefully, Leeds can bring the best out of me.”

Following the arrival of Dexter Blackstock on loan from Nottingham Forest late last month, United have a wealth of attacking options.

It means anyone wanting to start regularly will have to produce, a point Smith – whose three goals in the last two games have come on his only starts in the Championship – understands.

He said: “Dexter has come from a big club like Forest, so he is going to be here to play. It’s up to me to keep him out of the side and keep me in it. It is all healthy and I was delighted when Dexter scored last week (on his debut against Huddersfield).

“My first emotion was, ‘We’re back in the game at 2-2, let’s get on and win it’. We are all in this together.”