Leeds United labelled 'best team' in the Championship by rival boss

Derby County boss Paul Warne has labelled Leeds United as the ‘best team’ in the Championship. The Rams journey to Elland Road this weekend as they look to return to winning ways.

They were promoted from League One last season after finishing 2nd in the table. They ended up going up along with Portsmouth and Oxford United.

Leeds’ upcoming opponents head into their trip to West Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon on the back of their 2-1 loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday last time out. Jamal Lowe scored a last-gasp winner for the Owls at Pride Park.

‘Best team’...

Speaking ahead of their clash against the Whites, Warne has had this to say: “I feel they're the best team in the league. The atmosphere there is always electric, and they start matches better than any other team. Everyone I speak to in football says the same thing and they're just a really confident, good team. That's a simple fact. They have pace and goals throughout the team. They'll be hurting from losing at Blackburn, as we are after the Sheffield Wednesday match. That is accompanied by a very good management team and manager. They did brilliantly with Norwich City, too.

“They have everything you need for a promotion push. There are always weaknesses in every squad, in every team's psychology. It's just a side like Leeds have a lesser amount of them. We'll have to be the best version of ourselves, represent the club as well as we can and try and bring something back. With Leeds, it's another level at times.”

Meanwhile, their highly-rated young defender Eiran Cashin has said: “If we don't do the right things, aren't organised and disciplined, then it'll be very tough. However, if we do the right things and play with confidence, stick to our structure and stick to the game plan, there's no reason why we can't get points out of it. We know there’s a tough month coming up in terms of fixtures, but we just need to ensure we're at it. We're driving standards and we're accountable for our jobs. If we do that, then we have more than enough to get wins.”

Derby have won five of their first 18 fixtures and are sat in 15th place. They are five points above the relegation zone and risk getting sucked into trouble if they don’t start picking up more points soon. The Rams are winless in their last four and have lost their last two outings on the spin so their confidence may be low.

As for Leeds, they lost 1-0 away at Blackburn Rovers in their last match and will want to bounce back. They are 3rd in the division behind Sheffield United and Burnley as they target a return to the Premier League.

Daniel Farke’s men have been a tough nut to crack on their own patch this term and only Burnley have beaten them there. The Whites face Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough next Tuesday once they get Derby out of the way.