Dan James provides honest verdict on Leeds United summer upheaval as Championship promotion race addressed

Dan James insists a summer of major exits at Leeds United will not affect his personal game as the winger zones in on another Championship promotion push.

James has seen more than a dozen senior players leave Elland Road this summer, many of whom had a significant role to play in last season’s failed push for a Premier League return, as Leeds continue to battle with what Daniel Farke has called ‘sins of the past’. Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter - who racked up 143 appearances between them in the previous campaign - all had release clauses activated, while club chiefs decided to cash in on the likes of Charlie Cresswell and Glen Kamara.

This summer has been one of the busiest in recent memory at Elland Road, and it is only expected to get busier as those in charge scramble to replace the gaps left by Georginio, Summerville, Gray and Kamara in particular. But there is also the small matter of actual football and Leeds have played three times already, failing to win a single game, although James insists the upheaval is not affecting focus among those who have stayed on board.

"This happens every season, the comings and goings," James told Sky Sports. "You get used to it as a player. You just have to concentrate on yourself and your team and what you want to achieve."

Whether another summer of uncertainty can be to blame or not, Leeds have started slowly and similarities to last season have raised concern among supporters. Farke regularly cited the poor early run - three wins from their first nine - as a deciding factor in their failed promotion push and so a repeat of the same issues is not being met with much patience.

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Two games does not make a season, however, and Leeds did fight back to eventually top the Championship table during the March international break, only to fall short. But James is hoping to avoid another situation in which there is clear daylight between themselves and those above.

"I think Leicester were 20 points ahead of us at one point," the Whites winger added. "We reached that gap but obviously they pushed on from there and we dropped a few points towards the end of the season. The start of the season is obviously so important.

“You can't let teams get too far ahead of you. You've always got to be within touch so you don't have too much to do towards the end of the season. I think that's a big thing for us going into this season. It's a marathon. It's a very long season, as we all know. We know what we want to achieve. We know where we want to be. So I think we've just got to keep pushing."

James has started both league games so far, with little competition out wide in the absence of Summerville and Rutter. The Welsh international is expected to welcome some competition to Elland Road with wide reinforcements a priority in the final days of the window. Whether any arrivals are confirmed before Friday’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday remains to be seen.