Leeds United coach Javi Gracia refusing to pick a team with anything but Arsenal in mind

Arsenal away is undoubtedly the most difficult game of the three, but in many ways you could also argue Saturday’s is also the least significant. That is not how coach Javi Gracia will be approaching it, he insists.

A trip to Ashburton Grove is arguably as difficult a fixture as a Premier League side can face at the moment, but it is quickly followed by home games against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday and Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Their importance is shown by the fact those teams are a point apart, with the Whites sandwiched in the middle. All three are in an uncomfortably tight nine-team relegation battle which will have three losers.

In all, Leeds play seven times in April. They have only played seven league games since Jesse Marsch was sacked on February 6.

The temptation is obvious – to write off a game against the champions elect and hold players back for next week when their efforts could arguably count for more.

But that goes against the very ethos of English football, the notion that anyone can beat anyone on their day, and of playing for the pride of the shirt. Maybe, just maybe, Leeds can catch the Gunners cold after an international break.

"We have a very busy schedule in April but we prefer to put all our energy into the next game because if we don't, we don't have any chance," says the Spaniard. "It will be good to rotate the players (over April) but in some positions we don't have enough players (to do that).

"We are now only focused on the next game. I prefer not think too much about the month because going to be very tough."

Injuries to Willy Gnonto and Max Wober on international duty have certainly made it tougher, but at least both play in positions where Leeds are well stocked.

Pascal Struijk and Liam Cooper, substitutes in the last game, at Wolverhampton Wanderers, are able to deputise for Wober as left-sided centre-backs. Cooper even played some football as a substitute for Scotland against Spain this week – his first competitive minutes since Marsch's dismissal.

Gnonto belongs to an attacking stable which also includes Brenden Aaronson, Jack Harrison, Luis Sinisterra, Patrick Bamford, Crysencio Summerville, Rodrigo and Georginio Rutter, supplemented if needs be by exciting young strikers Sonny Perkins and Mateo Joseph.

With Sinisterra and Rodrigo still building up their fitness after injury, and January signing Rutter taking time to settle into a new country, Summerville is perhaps the most promising alternative to Gnonto, who has stood out with his ability on the left since he and Summerville broke into the side in the autumn.

After three consecutive starts, the Dutch winger was on the bench at Molineux but the impact he made from it was significant.

"Since I arrived Crysencio has shown a very good level in all the games he's played, sometimes playing from the beginning, in other games making the difference in the minutes he played," reflects Gracia.

"In the first game (against Southampton) he only played the last part but he had a clear chance to score the second goal.

"Against Wolves he made the pass to Rodrigo to score the last goal.

"These are important things for the team and with the quality he has I'm sure he's going to help the team – not only Crysencio, (but) Luis, Rodrigo, Patrick and all the players playing up front."

It is not the "optimism" Gracia regularly talks about that has him thinking about the importance of his attacking players this weekend. When chances are scarce, it is even more important your forwards are on their game.

"We are playing against the team at the top of the table and we have to be ready," says Gracia, who like most managers in the division only had two days work with a full squad after players returned from internationals spread far and wide.

"They (Arsenal) are doing many things well, you can see their stats. Against Bournemouth, for example, they had 80 per cent of possession and in other games at the Emirates they have around 70 per cent.

"You have to be prepared to defend more than attack and then when you are attacking try to be aggressive, try to be clinical and take advantage when you have the chances."

And just as Gracia is unwilling to look too far ahead, so he is not prepared to look backwards either.

Although Wolves' fightback tested the nerves two weeks ago it was a confidence-boosting win, this players showing that clinical edge in taking a 3-0 lead, and character to ultimately come through 4-2.

Likewise, although Leeds lost the reverse fixture 1-0 in October, they did not do so without giving the Gunners an almighty scare and missing a penalty through Patrick Bamford.

"All these games are the past," said Gracia firmly. "We are looking forward to the next game.

"We know we are playing against the team at the top of the table and it will be very demanding for us but the first step is to believe you can."

If Leeds are to escape from this relegation fight, it will certainly be one step at a time under this coach.