Marco Silva will not be using Leeds United’s winless run as a motivating factor on Sunday afternoon.
Having taken just two points from a possible 21 in their last seven outings, Leeds currently find themselves outside of the relegation places on goal difference alone.
But when asked if that gives his side a boost heading into the weekend, Silva replied: “Not really.
“Our motivation comes from ourselves, from our desire to be playing at the level we are playing, to keep improving, to learn from some mistakes. This is our own motivation.
“After analysing our opponent, we know what type of team we will play against. Even if they didn’t take the best results the last few games, all of us know what it means to play at Elland Road, what type of atmosphere will be there.
“Everyone that loves football loves that type of environment. It’s another good opportunity for us to show our quality, our personality as a team, to deal well with that type of environment.
“I’m sure they want to react, and we want to keep reacting as a team as well, for different circumstances.
“It’s up to us to prepare our players well, to recover well, because it’s a really short space between both games. We have to assess them, how they are, and prepare in the best way we can.”
The fixture will pit Silva against Jesse Marsch for the first time, a manager our Head Coach rates highly.
“It will be the first time that we play against each other,” he explained. “Passion, is the first thing that I can see. I can feel it, even on the touchline, how he feels during a game.
“He’s trying his best for his team, he’s a very good manager. Last season he had a good impact on their squad when he came after [Marcelo] Bielsa.
“They lost some players but they did well in the market as well, they signed very good players, young players with very good quality.
“It will be tough for us but we will challenge a good side. I think it will be a good game.”
