Leeds United take on Southampton in the Championship play-off final on Sunday afternoon at Wembley and Joel Piroe has shared what the mood is like behind the scenes ahead of this weekend.
Piroe got himself on the score sheet for the 14th time as a Leeds player since his £16m move from Swansea City last summer, on Thursday night as Daniel Farke’s men completely outclassed Norwich City.
The 4-0 win sees Leeds face Southampton in the play-off final ahead of Sunday, with The Saints doing enough to knock Carlos Corberan and Alex Mowatt’s West Brom out of the semi-finals on Friday night.
It is an intriguing encounter, with Leeds having lost both home and away to Southampton in the regular season. But, reasons can be given for both defeats and this is a different Leeds that Southampton face.
Speaking to Leeds Live ahead of Sunday’s final, Piroe shared what the mood is like in the Leeds dressing room ahead of the clash with promotion to the Premier League the prize come Sunday afternoon.
Piroe on Leeds mood in dressing room ahead of play-off final
Going into the play-offs, things looked bleak. Leeds had missed out on automatic promotion and with four defeats in the last six and one clean sheet in eight, Norwich might have fancied their chances.
But a 0-0 draw at Carrow Road was necessary, it reminded the Leeds players that they are capable of being solid. Then, the atmosphere and 4-0 win reconnected fans and players at just the right time.
Piroe says the mood is a good one and the players celebrated after the win over Norwich, but the squad is also confident of securing what is needed in the play-off final come Sunday afternoon at Wembley.
“I’m very happy we are going there now. We know it’s the end but we have to look at it all one game at a time. We believe we can go up. We trust each other and believe in each other and have to keep believing.
“With the team we have, we need to back ourselves and make it happen. Of course, we are very happy and celebrated a little bit in the dressing room. But we now know we have to look forward to Wembley.”
What the pundits are predicting ahead of Sunday’s final
Ally McCoist chose not to sit on the fence this morning and has predicted a penalty shootout between Leeds and Southampton, before going on to say that Leeds would win in the shootout for promotion.
Shaka Hislop reckons Leeds have their “mojo” back and that will be enough to get the job done against Southampton, while Craig Burley also thinks Leeds will beat Southampton and return to the top tier.
Leeds have Connor Roberts and Dan James back from injury, but Patrick Bamford remains a doubt due to a knock to the knee. Stuart Dallas and Pascal Struijk remain long-term absentees ahead of Sunday’s final.