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Leeds United in limbo: Opening day win at Wanderers was false dawn

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karlypants

karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

When Leeds United kicked-off their Championship campaign with a televised win against Wanderers in August, we wondered whether things were finally going the right way at Elland Road.

The archetypal fallen giants bowed out of the Premier League at Bolton in 2004, after which 17 different men had sat in the hotseat trying to restore their fortunes on a permanent or caretaker basis.

But after a dominant first-half performance the Yorkshiremen went home with a deserved 3-2 victory, emphasising the class gap Wanderers would struggle to come to terms with for some time yet.

The appointment of ex-Spain international Thomas Christiansen as manager at Elland Road last summer had a positive effect and by the start of October - widely regarded as ground zero, as far as Bolton’s own campaign goes - there was an 18-point gap between the two sides, with Leeds riding high in fifth.

Leeds being Leeds, drama was not far away.

Christiansen was sacked in February when a seven-game winless run saw the team drop to 10th. His successor, plucked from relegation-rivals Barnsley, was Paul Heckingbottom, whose arrival has failed to halt the slide.

Leeds have won just once since Boxing Day and have taken 12 fewer points in the last 14 games than Bolton.

Their work over the first half of the season means they are in no serious danger of the drop, yet the club’s long-suffering supporters are demanding some improvement if they are to continue turning up in such number.

There will be a full house at Elland Road on Friday, with Heckingbottom attempting to fire up his side with a warning of Wanderers’ need for points.

“We have to be mindful of who we’re playing,” he said.

“Every game we’re going to be facing someone who is fighting for points for one reason or another. There’s a desperation in those games and it can become like a Cup final.

“They’re a team scrapping and fighting for points. They’ll come determined to make it difficult for us and they’ll look forward to playing at Elland Road.

“We have to try and impose ourselves on them. They’re a good side and they’re showing that.”

Heckingbottom said he had been “surprised” by Bolton’s poor start.

“They’ve had a big change in their results and how they play,” he added. “They’ve got an identity and we have to match that. We have to try and impose ourselves on them. Their start surprised me if anything. They’re a good side.”

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