'Lazy' - David Prutton makes Leeds United FA Cup declaration with changes view and Harrogate Town defence

David Prutton has made an “ultra-realistic” admission about this evening’s Leeds United v Harrogate Town FA Cup clash with a defence of the visitors and Whites changes view.

Leeds and close neighbours Town will lock horns in a first ever competitive fixture between the two sides in this evening’s third round FA Cup tie for which the visitors have sold out their allocation of 4,000 tickets.

League Two side Town will be bringing a club record away following to the fixture which naturally throws up plenty of links between the two sides.

Prutton himself provides one of them, the Sky Sports presenter living in Harrogate who will now try to shock the club that Prutton used to play for.

Prutton feels a cup run at Leeds would be welcomed - but admits the Championship and lure of the Premier League must quite clearly come first and that widescale changes would be fair enough from Farke’s side.

The ex-Whites star has also served up praise for Town’s father-and-son duo of chairman Irving and manager Simon Weaver, slamming any “lazy, stereotypical” views about dad and son working together.

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Pressed on how he saw this evening’s cup clash from a Leeds point of view, Prutton admitted: “I think to be ultra realistic and potentially a bit cynical, it's all about them getting to the Premier League.

"Geographically, we know all about it and there's plenty of people that I know that are heading over to Elland Road as a Harrogate Town and a Leeds United fan. That sounds a bit twee in in these days of tribalism and absolute kind of nailing your colours to a mast. But I think it's quite nice.

"Having spoken to Simon Weaver and having lived in Harrogate for a long time now, it's been great to see what he's done, alongside his dad and his old man's a lovely fellow as well. There's that kind of very lazy stereotype of 'his dad owns the football club'.

"But I was reading an article about the father and son dynamic and the dad brought the son but that's rubbish as Simon was there first and then his old man took over the football club.

"Having spoken to the both, Irving respects thoroughly what his son does, leaves his son to it, doesn't get stuck into anything football related, trusts his son for the way that he's not only running the football club, but putting that football club on the map and putting the town on the map in a different way.

"Obviously Harrogate is famous for many things but it wasn't a football hotbed. But now it's a very workable EFL Football Club which is a phenomenal achievement given what the pyramid is and how fierce it is.

"If you love football then it's a lovely story. I think maybe if there are changes, and Daniel wants to look at a few different people, then fair enough.

"I think all of us know, yes, a cup run is nice and great, and it harks back to a slightly different time I think of our generation who watched football and grew up with it.

"But I think given what the Championship is and given what the Premier League is then the Premier League is absolutely the first port of call. We all know that."