Marcelo Bielsa counts on Leeds United's scowling menace and trusted generals ahead of big scrap

When the international break at long last is at its end, Leeds are facing a series of skirmishes, many of which are against sides with plenty to fight for. Leeds themselves are, even with a seven-point buffer, still part of the Premier League’s relegation battle and will be until a handful of wins gives them some serious breathing room. Even then, Marcelo Bielsa will not declare them safe until such a time as they cannot mathematically exit the division.

First up at the end of the break is a trip to Aston Villa, a club who sit 11th but have work to do yet to consolidate a comfortable mid-table position. Steven Gerrard will, given his nature, be hell-bent on achieving something a little better than that and, as his body language at Old Trafford showed, he's always right up for a scrap. Leeds can fully expect that level of intensity and his defiant, aggressive streak to be coursing through his players

Everton’s Frank Lampard will be next up for Bielsa and an individual with more motivation to get one over on Leeds you might struggle to find in the Premier League, all being considered.

The Manchester United game will carry the atmosphere of a brutal war, even if Bielsa and Ralf Rangnick are hell-bent on delivering a pure footballing contest, Leeds will have to battle to get anything out of Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City and then it’s Norwich City - a must win fixture. Going into a period that has the ability to give this season a much healthier sheen or the grim pallor of a scramble for survival, Leeds cannot count on momentum - that was snatched from them by that defeat at Newcastle United and a January transfer deadline that came and went without the numbers on the front line swelling with new recruits.

Bielsa wasn’t particularly calling for reinforcements of that nature, however. Instead, he will look to his trusted generals and the men coming back from injuries to dig in and see Leeds home to safety.

Raphinha has become one of those generals and it’s not just what Adam Forshaw calls the Brazilian’s ‘street-footballer’ ability that Leeds can rely on in the coming weeks. Where Raphinha grew up just to be a street footballer takes a certain taste for confrontation. When the winger enters the arena in the colours of Leeds or Brazil he’s an angry man, a scowling menace furiously searching for goals, nutmegs and reasons to take offence. Whoever runs the Instagram account of ex-Leeds loanee Benjamin White has made a point of showcasing his flashpoints and tense face-offs this season but, when he went nose to nose with Elland Road’s boy from the favela, no one was taking bets on the Arsenal defender. That’s no slight on White, who took Aleksandar Mitrovic’s very best elbow on the chin and shrugged, but Raphinha has that unpredictable madness in his eyes when the red mist descends.

Brazil’s new hero isn’t the only man in Bielsa’s dressing room who warms his hands on the heat of battle. Kalvin Phillips grew up trying to play through the kickings dished out by older boys on ‘the mushy’ and will be champing at the bit to get fit again so he can rejoin the fray.

Others aren’t so combative but can be trusted to put everything on the line when the need arises. Stuart Dallas has played through injuries and made tackles with his head this season.

Adam Forshaw has stress tested his body with thunderous challenges, Luke Ayling has broken the pain barrier, Mateusz Klich and Jack Harrison can be relied upon to run themselves to exhaustion, and Daniel James has a frenetic work ethic that helps the world understand why Bielsa set his heart on signing him. When Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford return, Leeds will welcome experience, leadership and firepower back to the group.

Notwithstanding concerns over the health and fitness of his squad, most accept that Bielsa has enough quality, intensity and fight within his team to win the battle facing Leeds. He believes so, hence his lack of demands in last month’s transfer window. The head coach himself has made a habit of coming out swinging when the occasion calls for it and his lowest moments have almost always been met with a stirring response on the pitch. Adversity makes him fight harder, he says. That mentality will be key.

Then there’s the fans. The urgency they clearly feel has generated an atmosphere that the players feel. Wolves at home was a fine example but the more urgently their support is required, the more intense they will become. He will be aware of the nervousness generated by a deadline that came and went without the arrival of a senior signing and that may sting, but he also knows that he can count on unconditional backing when he hunkers down in the technical area and goes to war.

Social media increasingly gave the impression of a divided fanbase in the transfer window discourse but matchdays are another matter entirely, a unifying matter. February and March are not the months in which the war will be won or lost but it is crucial that Bielsa and Leeds advance from their current position and do not take a backward step. It’s not over-egging the pudding to say the remainder of this season is the club’s most important fight since the one that elevated them back amongst the English elite, but this is a side built to go toe to toe.