Jesse Marsch press conference RECAP: Leeds United head coach offers positive Bamford update

First, that wasn't anyone's best game. Klichy and I spoke after the match and spoke about the things that we thought could be better, and then discussed how to handle the tough moments as well. But I really like Klichy, I think he's a really good player and I love his personality and he's been a big part of our successes that we've had together so far. So we're going to need him for sure. Him and Robin provide different things when they play in that role. Obviously, Mateusz is a more attacking player and Robin's a more defensive player, but I think there's different times for different needs for different situations. I could see that in the match, we were struggling with the ball and that, even though Klichy normally helps us in those situations, I knew that defending in that moment was going to be the biggest factor because Crystal Palace was having the ability to unbalance us at times so  I think it worked out okay, and getting the draw was important for us. But Mateus and Robin will continue to be important as we go forward.

We worked with Junior a lot in the last days, and we're hopeful that we can get him fitter and fitter and closer and closer to helping the group. I think that he can help the group because the best thing that he can provide is, I think, ease with the ball from the left back position, which can help us have some more solutions and control the game a little bit more. Whether this is the match for that, and to see is he fully ready? - we'll just have to evaluate over the next couple of days, but he's looked good in training and I told him to be ready because we will need him for sure. And then for me, Stuart has been fantastic. His mentality, his workrate and his ability to understand what the games require at such a high level. And I know that left back is not his preferred position or his best position. So yeah, I think the goal is to get Junior closer and closer to being ready to help us and then to find other ways to use Stuart.

I'm used to being on the other end of the spectrum - fighting for the title. I know that a lot of times, playing against the relegation teams can be a pesky match. And that's our job on the days to make the match pesty for Man City. I think that the league is so good and my respect for every team is so high that it just comes down to the focus and concentration for every game. And I say that all the time - I don't have the energy for more. I'm sorry, I don't have the energy to think about the table, and how other teams are doing and what it's gonna look like at the end of the year. I assumed from the very second that I took the job that I was going to be knee deep in everything until May 22 and I think it'll stay that way. But again, I think our focus and concentration to work, to get better, has been really good and so we have to stay with that.

I would say that in all areas, we have so much work to do still. So the fact that we've got results, and that we've fought in front of our goal to do whatever we can to not give up goals has helped us gain momentum. But there's still a lot of things that we can be much better at on both sides of the ball. I said from the beginning that the one thing with these players is that we can always draw on their mentality and their willingness to run and fight for each other. And we've seen that at such a high level and I think every game and so we need to get better with the ball. We need to get better at counter-pressing, we need to get better in transition moments, creating clear chances. But at the same time, I'm really happy with the daily work and I can't ask for more from the guys.

We're obviously excited for a big match. We think it's the best team in the world against the best club in the world. So you can decide which is which.... I think it is an ultimate test, maybe THE ultimate test. And I'm very honest when I say that, I think they’re the best team in the world. The talent they have, I think speaks for itself. Their manager does an incredible job of creating a tactical model that is very complex, and one that the players understand very, very well and are able to execute very well, and it's one that's incredibly difficult to defend against.

And that's what you see more often than anything is that Man City has an ability to control the match over time, by their quality and their movement and their ideas and their ability to unbalance you, and and often unbalance you in one area and then attack you in another. So we will have to be very clear exactly what our tactics are for the day, what our strategies are for the day, and we have to find moments to not just be passive throughout the match. Because that's what happens - they can put so much pressure on teams with the ball, and then with their counter pressing that they just suffocate teams, and we have to be confident and better with the ball. And then we have to understand the moments when, strategically, we can still be aggressive. That's not easy, but a massive challenge, but hopefully on the day we can use our crowd and find ways to find advantages and see if we can fight for a result.

Crysencio Summerville picked up an injury in the last training we had before the Palace match, which is really unfortunate because he’s been in really good form. He twisted his ankle and he’ll be done for the season, unfortunately. That one was disappointing. Adam is moving forward in a good way but it’ll still be some time for him. Patrick has been making progress and we’re still hopeful that we can see him later in the season. And then Tyler is making good progress as well. But I think other than that everyone else is fully healthy. And ready to go.

Playing Man City For me, It's the biggest Goliath in the world. I played them already. I know a little bit about the way Pep likes to play. We'll try to create a game plan that can be aggressive but can also help us find a way to get a result in the match