Leeds United v Derby County: I like the pressure, says Christiansen

The Elland Road club’s form has slumped in recent weeks, a run of five defeats in their last seven Championship outings seeing the them slide from top spot to fifth place.

A host of sides are now snapping at Leeds’s heels, including tonight’s visitors Derby County, with the chasing pack so concertinaed that even Middlesbrough, in 12th, can leapfrog Christiansen’s men by 10pm if results go their way.

Such a scenario is not something the Dane is contemplating. Instead, he firmly believes United can get back on track against the Rams.

“I believe it is still good,” said the Leeds chief. “We come from a defeat (against Sheffield United), which is never nice. But we know the situation and we are still in a play-off position.

“It is a situation that we all would have signed up to be in now. From that point of view, I am not worried. The players know what to do.”

United were deservedly beaten by the Blades in Friday’s televised clash. A poor first-half showing was particularly worrying for a team who should have been in buoyant mood after comprehensively beating play-off challengers Bristol City in their previous league outing seven days earlier.

Christiansen’s men did improve after half-time and even hit a post through Samuel Saiz.

But, over the 90 minutes, the Blades were worthy winners to leave some suggesting the pressure of needing to go at least one better than last season’s seventh-place finish was proving too much at Elland Road. It is a charge Christiansen flatly rejects.

“No,” replied the United head coach to the accusation. “The players are confident because they have my confidence. If they didn’t have it, for sure they would have a little bit more pressure.

“But they are professional and they know that this is the business. Some days you are up and sometimes you are down. When you are down you have to stick together more.”

Asked if he felt additional pressure being at the helm of a club with such high levels of expectation, Christiansen replied: “I feel good. I like the pressure.

“It doesn’t change. If the demand is to win all the games, I like that pressure. If it is to win a game because we have lost a few, it is the same for me. The thing is the players have to be ready for that.

“If you go down after a bad game, that would be a problem. But, we must realise Derby is game 15. There are still a lot of games to come.

“There is the possibility that we could be out of the top six, but the response we have to give is to be in there at the end of the season. If we are not in (the top six) at the end of the season then we can speak about things. Until then, let the players do their work and for sure it will be a good season.”

United’s early dash for the summit was made on the back of a remarkable run of six clean sheets from the first seven games. Since then, however, there has been only one further shutout with the last seven games seeing the Yorkshire club’s backline breached 13 times.

Friday night underlined how porous the defence can look at times with only Andy Lonergan preventing the Blades building up what would surely have been an unassailable lead by half-time with two stunning saves to deny Billy Sharp.

Christiansen will be forced into one change due to Liam Cooper being unavailable after suffering a dead leg against the Blades. He joins suspended duo Gaetano Berardi and Kalvin Phillips on the sidelines along with Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Caleb Ekuban.

Whoever does get the nod against an in-form Rams side who have won their last three games, defender Matthew Pennington insists Leeds can bounce back from the televised loss.

“It is the same in football everywhere,” said the Everton loanee. “You are only as good as your last game so last week when we beat Bristol (City) it was all brilliant. Then we get beat by Sheffield (United) and everything is not so good any more. It is all about the last game. But now we are focusing on the next one. Anyway, personal criticism is part of the game. It is something you have got to take on the chin and react from.

“If you look at our position in the table, it as a strong one to be in. We are looking forward and the Championship table doesn’t lie. We are in a decent position so I don’t think there is a problem at the moment.

“If we get a couple of results now, it will look good. Every game is a massive game. We want to get the next three points to keep pushing up the table. I don’t see it as any different to any other.

Last six games: Leeds United LLLWLL Derby County DDDWWW.

Referee: S Hooper (Wiltshire).

Last time: Leeds United 1 Derby County 0; January 13, 2017; Championship.