Boss previews Saturday's West Yorkshire Derby
Mark Robins is looking forward to Saturday’s West Yorkshire Derby in what he describes will be a mouth-watering clash.
“Elland Road is a great place to play football because the atmosphere is always brilliant,” said Mark.
“The Leeds fans have got good banter especially when ex-Manchester United players come to town! I have been there plenty of times and they are always very vocal; they can be the 12th man.”
Mark has had a clear week to work with his players; the first since he arrived in mid-February.
“We have had a decent amount of recovery time since our last game and when it comes to derby games, form goes out of the window. It will be an intriguing contest, which has a lot of things riding on it.
“We have been able to get one or two rested and have been able to get a little bit of work into one or two of the lads.”
Leeds still has faint hopes of stealing a Play-Off place and Town’s boss has been impressed with what he has seen of Town’s West Yorkshire rivals.
“I have watched Leeds a few times this season and they have got some good, experienced Championship players in their side,” Mark told htafc.com. “They have got a good balance to their team with a good mix of youth, especially at the back. In the games that I have watched they passed the ball well and generally played good football. I expect us to have a really go at them on Saturday.”
He added: “There is a good buzz around the place (Canalside Sports Complex). We have had one or two good performances over the last couple of weeks and Saturday’s game is a mouth-watering clash for the players, managers and fans.”
During his time in charge of Barnsley, he guided the Tykes to a 3-3 draw at Elland Road and a 5-2 victory in the return fixture.
“Saturday is a new challenge against a different Leeds United team. They have got one or two players who may come into the squad; the likes of El Hadji Diouf might play who looked lively on Tuesday night. They have got undoubted quality, but it is about how we perform on the day.”
Mark was quick to rule out Jermaine Beckford when asked about the striker’s chances of facing his former employers.
“We need him back in as soon as possible, but he hasn’t done enough training. He is a big miss to us because everyone knows how good he can be.
“Sean (Scannell) is a bit closer to fitness than Jermaine, but he isn’t ready. The likes of Danny Ward has been able to do more work this week after returning from injury, so we will see where we are come Saturday.”
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