One Leeds United player has admitted he is not particularly happy with how his season has gone since Daniel Farke signed him last summer, despite being a key part of the side.
Leeds missed out on automatic promotion at the final hurdle but now have a chance to get promoted at Wembley in the Championship play-off final as Farke’s men take on Southampton on Sunday afternoon.
Farke will have a couple of decisions to make. At right-back, it will be interesting to see if Farke sticks with Archie Gray or sides for experience with Connor Roberts available for the entire 90 minutes after injury.
Dan James is also fit and will be desperate to start above Willy Gnonto on the right, while Patrick Bamford hopes to return from a knock to his knee and rival Joel Piroe up top and spearhead the Leeds attack.
Piroe’s form has certainly been up and down this season. Starting well, the Dutchman died off around Christmas and was replaced by Bamford, who went on a run of scoring goals over the next few months.
But Piroe came back into the side against Norwich on Thursday night and produced arguably his best game in a Leeds shirt, scoring the second in a 4-0 win. Piroe was asked if he was happy with his season.
Joel Piroe not happy with his season at Leeds despite 14 goals
Piroe joined Leeds for a whopping £16m fee, which includes add-ons on top of an initial £10.5m figure. It comes after surpassing 20 goals twice in two seasons at Swansea, he was the main man in North Wales.
At Leeds, he joined as a big player within the squad but no longer a big fish in a small pond. His return has been solid without being remarkable and he told BBC Radio Leeds that he is not happy with his form.
“I think I could have done better. Especially, if I look at the Norwich game, I could have scored a couple more. I’m not really happy with it but 14 is not a bad number,” Piroe said, when asked by Adam Pope.
Piroe set for a start on Sunday, shares the mood in the squad
With Bamford an unknown at this stage in terms of his fitness, it looks as if Piroe will get the nod up top. Even if Bamford is fit, it is likely to only be for a place on the bench come Sunday afternoon at Wembley.
Earlier this week, Piroe has spoken about the mood of the squad ahead of the play-off final behind the scenes. After the win over Norwich, it is unsurprising that Piroe has said the mood is very good.
“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.”