Leeds United star Pascal Struijk names ‘most important’ thing after impressive strike in win vs Real Sociedad

Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk has outlined his side’s desire to keep improving after they picked up an impressive 2-1 win in a friendly against La Liga high-flyers Real Sociedad on Friday evening. The Whites came from a goal behind to record a second consecutive victory, having already beaten Elche this month.

After falling behind at Elland Road, Jesse Marsch’s men had Struijk to thank for their equaliser, with the 23-year-old producing a wonderful driven effort to level proceedings. Rodrigo then found a winner for the hosts just before the hour mark. Leeds will continue their preparations for the resumption of the Premier League campaign with another friendly against AS Monaco on Wednesday.

And while the match may not have anything riding on it, Struijk is insistent that he and his teammates are still eager to continue their recent winning ways. Speaking after Friday’s match, he said: “We’ve had three games now, we’ve won all of them, so we’re going in a positive direction. They’re a very good team, they’re third in La Liga, so for us it’s important that we keeping improving on the things we need to improve on, and that we keeping winning. That [regaining fitness] is most important, but that’s also what we do in training every day. We work hard in training and we work hard on the pitch and in the games.”

First up for Leeds when the Premier League does return is an unenviable clash against defending champions Manchester City, and the versatile defender also addressed on the challenger lying in wait for him and his colleagues. He said: “They’re a very good team, and we’ll try and do our best and make sure we’re as prepared as possible.”

Reflecting on his strike against Sociedad, he added: “When I score, it’s always a good night, unless we lose, then I can’t be too happy. But we did win, so I’m happy. I get in the position quite a lot, but they don’t always pass the ball, so I hope to prove to my teammates I can do something with it.”