The Leeds United definite but bounce back fallacy and reality with striker: David Prutton

Not until that first ball has been kicked and you get a bit of a feel about what their potential competition is going to be. There's a lot of teams with a lot of high hopes and I think if you're looking at it from a neutral standpoint, there's so much to be very, very excited about.

You get the feeling that Leeds are going to perhaps try to break the Championship code in a slightly different way to what they did under Marcelo Bielsa which is absolutely correct given the man that they have got in charge now in Daniel Farke.

And I'm just intrigued to see what a couple of years away from the Championship has done for them and what the emotional effect is of those last six months of the Premier League last season off the back of different changes in management personnel and how teams react to them. Once again, Leeds go back to being that big fish, that big scalp and people subsequently raise their games so that's the challenge.

The fact that Leicester, Leeds and Southampton are the first three teams in the betting reflects their last positions in the Premier League, which I absolutely understand. But the day to day in the Championship is a lot tougher than it is on paper.

Leeds have definitely got the right man in charge in Daniel Farke when you look at availability and experience. Daniel has done it twice before at Norwich City with some very, very good players although it did initially take him that first season before they went up the first time to get things in the position that he wanted.

But I think undoubtedly Leeds have got a manager there that especially in Championship terms is a really good option to have at the helm. If I am asked do I think it will take Leeds time to come back up then what I would say is that less than a third of teams that come down go straight back up. All that kind of instant bounce back stuff is a bit of a fallacy.

The patience and the enthusiasm and the emotional investment from the fans comes from them seeing a Leeds team that is giving it a go. It comes from them watching a team that appears to be moving in the right direction.

So if Leeds manage to tick those couple of boxes and make a decent pace along the way then happy days. If there's that disparity between what Daniel wants and then what's being seen on the pitch then I can see why there might be a little bit of impatience from the fans. But Leeds fans have seen enough over the years to know what to expect in a pessimistic way of don't be surprised by being surprised.

I think there is a broad acceptance that if there is a little bit of teething or time to take in the actual competitive games, then I think broadly, Leeds fans are a sensible bunch to see that.

Leeds are going into today's first game of the season at home to Cardiff City with their two main strikers Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter injured - plus young Mateo Joseph out - and it's a funny one with injuries. It's not funny for the players involved but sometimes it's a case of hedging your bets with what ifs.

If you get two strikers out at the same time then you can question your options. But if you've got two fit strikers and then young lads like Joseph chomping at the bit then that suddenly seems like a lot of strikers to be milling around with. It's slightly hypothetical. If both are out then it's a worry but if both are fit then it's relatively happy days.

But a lack of goals has been a Leeds problem for the best part of the last seasons now and you only have to look at what Daniel had at his disposal to get Norwich out of the Championship in someone that scored goals for fun in the Championship in Teemu Pukki.

It's a worry for Leeds if they are lacking someone like a Patrick Bamford from an experience point of view but Patrick had a stop start season last season and he will want to re-write that. Without Bamford and Rutter it leaves them light up top but strikers generally cost a lot of money for someone who is going to light up the division.

In saying that, Viktor Gyokeres cost Coventry City around £1.5m and you get a good striker by good recruitment. What's shown in recent seasons is that Leeds' recruitment has been nowhere near it by the very fact that they now find themselves in this position. But if Rutter hits the ground running once he is back then we might be having a different conversation three weeks' time.