Here are the latest Leeds United evening headlines on Thursday, 21 April.
Grella on his time at Leeds
Mike Grella has labelled the squad he worked alongside at Leeds United as 'special'. Grella spent two-and-a-half-years at the Whites and played a bit-part role in the season that Simon Grayson's side was promoted from League One.
He scored five goals in 42 appearances during his time at Elland Road, but was often forced to play second fiddle to Leeds' prolific partnership of Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio. Speaking on the Official Leeds United Podcast, Grella hailed the group he was with at Leeds as one of the best he has ever worked with and claimed that if it had stayed together for longer, it would've been promoted to the Premier League.
He said: “There’s only a couple moments in your career because it’s only short, where you feel like you’re in a special team. That was definitely a special team and I think honestly, if they would’ve kept that team together for a little bit longer it would’ve gone straight back up. I think 90% of those guys went and played in the Premier League so I think it was a mistake to break that team up because we definitely had a good group. It was special.”
READ MORE: Swansea City man reacts to Leeds United transfer links as he outlines Premier League 'dream'
Leeds set for attendance record
History will be made at Leeds United on Friday night when more than 18,000 supporters are expected to watch the Premier League 2 fixture with Manchester City. The division’s attendance record previously stood at 17,525, but sales went beyond 18,000 on Thursday with tickets still being sold before kick-off.
The attendance is already set to be bigger than the average for Championship games this season as well as Brentford's top-flight average, but if sales continue at their current rate the gate could rival what Burnley and Watford have seen in the Premier League this term.
Read more here.
Palace injury blow
Crystal Palace could be without key midfielder Michael Olise for Monday night’s clash with Leeds United at Selhurst Park. Olise was withdrawn after just 40 minutes of Palace’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday due to a foot issue.
Manager Patrick Vieira gave no indication as to how serious the injury was, but did reveal that it is the same problem that kept him out matches with Arsenal and Leicester City earlier this month. He said: “We know that Michael had some issues with his foot in the last couple of weeks. We started him today, but he wasn't 100% so the best decision was to take him off.”
