Leeds United attacker Crysencio Summerville says there is one Southampton player he can’t wait to face in the Championship play-off final on Sunday.
Summerville and the rest of his Leeds teammates will come up against the Saints at Wembley on Sunday as the two sides battle it out for the final remaining place in next season’s Premier League.
Having come third and fourth in the regular season respectively, there is little surprise at the two teams who have made the final. OPTA’s supercomputer had both as the favourites to reach this stage.
Leeds overcame Norwich City by a comfortable margin of 4-0, with Southampton then easing past West Bromwich Albion 3-1 just 24 hours later.
Though Leeds finished above Southampton in the 46-game table, Russell Martin’s side were actually the only team to complete a league double over the Whites.
Summerville shares why he can’t wait to face Kyle Walker-Peters
As they have done all season, Leeds will be looking towards Summerville to provide that little bit of extra quality when they need it most.
Summerville scored 19 goals and provided nine assists during the regular season, which saw him crowned as the Championship’s player of the season.
However, it would be fair to say Summerville endured two quiet games against the Saints in the league matches, as he came up against arguably their best player in Kyle Walker-Peters.
Summerville failed to register a goal or an assist in either match, while the Saints star actually registered two of his four assists across the season against Leeds. He is a danger at both ends of the field.
Alongside Summerville, Walker-Peters was named in the Championship team of the season and there is no doubt his ability considerably exceeds that of this level. It was only a couple of years ago he was playing for England.
Summerville is already attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs ahead of the summer and so these are the sort of battles he needs to be winning, if he is going to take that next step.
And speaking in an interview with Leeds Live, Summerville says he is relishing the challenge of coming up against ‘one of the best’ players in the division.
He said: “He’s one of the best right-backs in the Championship and was in the Team of the Season as well. I like to challenge myself against the best, so I’m looking forward to the duel.”
Summerville’s Junior Firpo connection can be crucial
During the same interview, Summerville also spoke of how much he has enjoyed building that connection with Junior Firpo this season.
Firpo has provided eight assists from left-back since coming into the team in January, with his overlapping runs the perfect foil for Summerville’s preference to cut inside.
If Leeds are able to double up on Walker-Peters with that duo down the left it just be the key to finding some joy, where they perhaps didn’t in either of the league matches.