Leeds United v Oxford United - or is it the Whites v complacency?

The Us will probably be a trickier proposition than they were last weekend, when a 3-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday cost boyhood fan Des Buckingham his job. Gary Rowett's appointment as his replacement can be taken as a sign of intent, and in itself could get a bit more out of a squad which has struggled with the step up from League One this season.

But with a 1-0 win over Hull City their only victory since mid-September, and with Leeds taking 28 points from a possible 33 at Elland Road this season, it would be a brave – some might say foolhardy – man to bet on anything but a home win.

However this is the Championship, a division which trades on surprise results, so Leeds manager Daniel Farke has had his antennae out at Thorp Arch this week for signs anyone is taking three points for granted.

"It comes with experience and you sense that sometimes they need a wake-up call in training or that you need to calm their nerves down,” he says.

"For them it's not always easy when there's a bit of criticism after a good point on the road.

"But they wear the Leeds United shirt and they have to get used to it otherwise they can't play for this club. Any other club would celebrate a 93rd-minute equaliser (like the one the Whites scored at Preston North End a week ago) as a point won but we are Leeds United in this league so everyone speaks about how we should have won this game.

"This is how we are and we have to get on with it.

"We have to value this point, seven points out of a tough week is really a good outcome and it was a good away point from a difficult game.

"We wanted to play for nine points because we are Leeds United so a good balance is quite important.

"Sometimes you have to force the fire a bit more when you get the feeling they allow themselves to be a bit too confident, (and) sometimes I like to calm their nerves down when they're panicking a little bit but that comes with experience.

"When you work a little bit in your job, normally you should have a good feeling for what you have to do at which moment."

And during the game, Leeds might have to think for themselves a bit.

Farke was speaking early on Thursday afternoon, with Rowett's appointment nearly 24 hours away.

In the interim training has been led by former Sheffield United and Scarborough centre-back Craig Short, plus Chris Hackett and goalkeeping coach Lewis Price.

It makes second-guessing how Oxford will approach Saturday difficult, and Farke does not want to prepare his side for every eventuality.

"Nowadays it's not just about the training sessions on the pitch it's about the video meetings and when we speak about the tactics," he says.

"Of course the basics, to be sharp, to be willing to run and play with aggression will always be an important point but also to be tactically spot on and well-prepared and good in your structure with the ball and against the ball is crucial.

"We started to prepare the players for different scenarios – different base formations they have played – because it's difficult to predict which formation they will choose.

"But experience also helps not to overload them because it's not like a university lesson when you are working with engineering students or whatever and you can have a three-hour lessons and you speak about 27 different scenarios and on the pitch they have to realise it – listen, you're prepared, mate.

"We try to keep it simple and focus on the basics because with a full head you can't play free-flowing football.

"It's important to find a good balance between preparing them in the proper way but not over-loading them with too much information.

"It means even a bit more work because you channel all the information it reduce it to the absolutely important core information. This is what we've tried to do."

Two can play at that uncertainty, though, with doubts over the fitness of Pascal Struijk and Max Wober making Ethan Ampadu a third option to partner Joe Rodon in central defence. If he does, it will be his first start since injuring his knee in October and one ahead of schedule, but the captain is confident he is ready.

"Whenever you're back training for a couple of weeks in your head you're always thinking you're ready to play however many minutes you're needed for," he said.

"I couldn't tell you what's going to happen but I’ll be ready for whatever's needed."