Leeds United defender on how his experiences in Russia have prepared him for 'War of the Roses' with Manchester United
IN-FORM Leeds United defender Jaka Bijol admits he can’t wait for his first experience of the club’s bitter rivalry with Manchester United at Elland Road on Sunday lunch-time.
The West Yorkshire stadium will be rocking to its foundations when the ‘War of the Roses’ rivalry recommences.
Leeds head into the game on the back of an excellent point at reigning champions Liverpool on New Year’s Day when Bijol and his defensive cohorts were in outstanding form.
Unitred’s back four must again be on point if they are to extend their unbeaten top-flight sequence to seven matches against a Red SDevils side who have had two extra days to prepare.
On what he expects in Sunday’s Roses clash, the former Udinese defender and Slovenia international said: “I've played a few (derbies), maybe not in Italy but before in Russia was a quite big derby as well I would say.
"CSKA Moscow versus Spartak Moscow, it's a big one there. It cannot compare to the level here of course.
"It always brings something special and of course there are special games. Through the years and through the intensity, you have to be there every week. If it's Manchester United or not, you have to perform like we did at Anfield.
"In the locker room (at Liverpool), we talked about it straight after the game - that we really want to bring the energy on Sunday and perform. A full Elland Road is going to be electric for sure. We're going to make sure that we are here with a good performance.
"For sure, we are ready for it. But we have to focus on ourselves and if we focus on that I think our performance is going to be good and at the end that brings the result.
"We really just keep improving and I think that we deserved the clean sheet (at Liverpool) at a really tough ground.
"We just have to continue working and keep improving every week. The next game is in three days and we just have to recover good and be ready for them.”