Ilia Gruev identifies major Leeds United difference going into second Championship promotion push

Ilia Gruev hopes a more settled summer and the experience of last season’s failed promotion push should put Leeds United in a strong position to go again this time round.

Gruev is enjoying - or enduring - his first pre-season as a Leeds United player, having arrived from Werder Bremen last September once his new club had already played six times across all competitions. The Bulgarian joined a team still reeling from the chaos of several forced loan exits and Wilfried Gnonto’s failed attempt to move one, which played a part in Daniel Farke’s side starting slowly.

It took a while for Gruev to get going at Leeds due to Ethan Ampadu’s consistent presence in defensive midfield, but a first start in the 1-0 defeat at Stoke City in October left a lot to be desired as the 24-year-old got to grips with the rigours of Championship football. An excellent second-half of the season provided proof of quality, however, and a full summer should encourage faster starts come August - and not only for Gruev.

“It is nice to be back in Germany,” he told LUTV. “We have good training facilities, the pitches are good and the weather is good. It is nice that the team are together and we are getting better and better as a group. It has been lots of hard work. It has been intense which is good. We prepare ourselves the best way we can for the league and I think we are in a good way.

“To be here from the beginning, show yourself in training and in the games and to be prepared with the team is quite important and makes it easier for players. I expect [the Championship to be] like last year with intense games, as 46 games is very long but I expect we will show our quality and be even better than last year.

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“Last year was my first time playing in this league and now I know more about it and some other players which is an advantage. It is better to have that experience. I am 24 years old and it is nice to not be a young player any more, so I try to help the players who are younger than me and I like to do that.”

Experience, or a lack of, became a core debate in West Yorkshire as Farke’s men slipped up and lost ground in the promotion race after going top in March, and those who stay to fight another year will have learned from last season's lows. But Leeds have also been at pains to ensure any summer arrivals know their way around the Championship as well.

Joe Rodon, Alex Cairns, Joe Rothwell and Jayden Bogle all boast bags of experience and have settled into their new set up with ease - although it’s not that new for the returning Rodon. Gruev was in the same boat less than 12 months ago but insists it is made easy by those new faces being so welcoming.

“I think it is easy to settle into our team because the players are very friendly and nice, so I think it is very easy to settle into the group,” the midfielder added. “The new players that have come to us are also like this and it is very easy for them and for us. We are as a group 24/7 together and we speak about a lot of things, football of course but about other things which are also important to us.”