Jesse Marsch is under no illusions - his Leeds side “need” a win on Wednesday night.
United’s chief cited numerous reasons on Tuesday why his club is on the up ahead of their FA Cup third round replay. He’s never had more belief in his team, their last outing was the best performance of his reign, they’ve just made a record signing… But the upshot is Leeds have won just twice in 17 games.
If they fall again versus Championship strugglers Cardiff, you can’t imagine the Elland Road faithful - with some already calling for him to be sacked - showing any such positivity. Marsch conceded: “For me, we need another complete performance. We need conviction. We need a win. And I hate being result based. But that’s where we are.”
French striker Georginio Rutter, their £36m record signing and “maybe the most two-footed player I’ve ever seen” according to Marsch, isn’t eligible to feature against Cardiff. He could debut in Sunday’s Premier League game against Brentford. Marsch will make a late decision on captain Liam Cooper after he injured a knee in training but Luis Sinisterra might return to the side.
Leeds needed teenager Sonny Perkins’ 93rd minute leveller at Cardiff to force the replay and then they lost 2-1 at Aston Villa on Friday. But Marsch revealed the latter was the second most high intensity running performance in the last five years of the Premier League. And he maintained: “I’m more energised and I’m stronger in my belief than I’ve ever been before that we’re going to be a good team and we’re going to be a good team soon. Now we have to show it, specifically tomorrow night.
“I accept the pressures of what’s happening in my role at this club right now. I understand it. I am doing everything I can and that we are doing everything we can together and we believe in this project and I think that’s clear with the transfers we make, with the decisions we make, with everything that we’ve done.”
But some bookmakers have slashed their odds for Marsch to be sacked to just 4/1. Cardiff got rid of their manager Mark Hudson on Monday with Dean Whitehead now in temporary charge. Marsch said: “I think we’ll see a stronger (Cardiff) side and that the new manager will want the job and will try to get his team to perform that way and go for the win. I expect him to play a little more intensively than they did at Cardiff.”
