Parachuted into a dangerous situation with Leeds United's Premier League safety in serious doubt, Javi Gracia arrived at Elland Road with his eyes wide open and the reality of the challenge crystal clear. The Spaniard knew the difficulty of the test that lay ahead, but it was one he took with a confidence he could be successful.
It's just a little over a month since his arrival and while there have been ups and downs, Gracia's confidence in his ultimate objective is unwavering. The league table unfortunately doesn't look any healthier than when he took over and one win in four is not a sequence of results to make a major impact on the league ladder, however if you take it as two wins in five, or only two defeats in five games, the record offers hope.
Everyone needs hope, but for Gracia his unwavering confidence is not built on hope, rather belief. With 10 games to go the Leeds United head coach is unmoved in his belief the Whites will survive this latest test of their top-flight credentials.
"It is an obsession in this moment to try to achieve our target and I think we are going to do it," says Gracia. "For me in this moment is the most important thing. This is what I am working for.
"It is my main objective. For sure, we know there are many teams who are in the same position as us, but with the work my players are doing, we have our chances and we are going to exploit them until the end."
Exploiting chances is something Leeds must do this week, with two home games against fellow relegation strugglers, starting with a team that boasts the worst away record in the league in Nottingham Forest. Opportunities to put points on the board don't come much bigger than this week and Leeds need to take them to justify Gracia's belief and prediction.
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