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Leeds United: Grayson in Delph admission
Fabian Delph displayed his talents with a fine performance against Blackburn Rovers, leaving Simon Grayson to admit that he would struggle to begrudge the midfielder a transfer to the Premier League.
Delph played an influential role in United's most impressive pre-season display as the club held Blackburn Rovers to a 1-1 draw at Elland Road on Saturday, and Grayson said the club would face a major dilemma if a top-flight team meets their valuation of the 19-year-old before the transfer window closes.
Leeds are deeply reluctant to lose the England Under-21 international and are adamant that Delph will not be sold for anything less than his full price, and the club's manager insisted the "hardest thing" for the League One club would be accepting an offer for him.
But Grayson is equally aware of Delph's potential, which was underlined again by his confident performance against Premier League opposition on Saturday, and the 39-year-old insists the club would think long and hard before depriving Delph of the chance to join England's top flight if an acceptable bid were to arrive.
Grayson said: "We're not talking about him going to a League One team – we're talking about top Premier League clubs coming in for him.
"The hardest thing for us would be to accept a bid in the first place, but also to deny the player the chance to go to that level.
"But if none of the interested clubs reach the price we expect, he won't be going anywhere. We don't want to lose our best players on the cheap.
"Fab's shown his qualities again. He's developed over pre-season but he really came to the table (against Blackburn), showed what he's about and what a good player he is. All he wants to do is play football and that's a great attitude to have. The lad has shown a lot of maturity since I walked in here in December."
Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur are all interested in signing Delph, and it seems highly unlikely that United will reach the end of the summer transfer window without further attempts to prise the youngster away.
Despite intense speculation, his future is no closer to being resolved but while doubt hangs over Delph, Grayson's wider plans appear to be taking shape after a creditable outing against Blackburn.
United dominated the fixture and were unfortunate to concede a last-minute penalty, but the late equaliser did not detract from an assured performance.
Leeds start their League One campaign in less than a fortnight's time, and Grayson said: "We're not far off.
"Everybody will look to two weeks' time to see where their fitness levels are, and you don't get fully match fit until a month into the season, but I'm pleased with how strong we're looking.
"On the attacking side, especially in the first half, we created some good chances against a strong Blackburn outfit.
"The majority of their players played at least three-quarters of last season and although they're a week behind us (in their pre-season schedule), I was really pleased with our performance.
"I'm happy with my group of players and they've shown that they can dictate games, whoever they're playing against."
United's backline has struggled during pre-season, failing to keep a single clean sheet in six matches.
But they stood up well to Blackburn's strikeforce of Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts, and Grayson was impressed by the partnership of Rui Marques and new signing Patrick Kisnorbo in the centre of defence.
Grayson said: "(Kisnorbo) looked very comfortable and he and Rui were excellent. They had two difficult competitors against them.
"The team who started the game obviously made a very good impression against a top club, and I've got a lot of difficult decisions to make.
If people start to do well then they'll have an opportunity to stay in the team. That's all I can say to the players now."
Among those vying for position is goalkeeper Shane Higgs, United's recent signing from Cheltenham Town who stood out on Saturday during his first appearance at Elland Road.
Higgs completed 90 minutes with fellow keeper Casper Ankergren absent with a minor shoulder injury, and Grayson said: "He's everything that I thought we'd be getting when I signed him.
"He came for the ball when he could, punched when he needed to and kicked well. He's a very composed player and there's a calmness about him."
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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