'We must stand up and be counted' - Luke Ayling says Leeds United are ready for 'tricky' Newcastle United

Luke Ayling says Leeds United must 'stand up and be counted' ahead of a 'tricky' Premier League clash with Newcastle.

The Whites host the Magpies this evening in the top flight with Marcelo Bielsa's men looking to get back to winning ways at Elland Road.

United are winless in their last five home fixtures, falling to defeat to West Ham on Friday evening most recently.

Bielsa's men conceded twice to two set-pieces against the Hammers which caused much frustration for the Leeds boss as they were beaten 2-1.

Newcastle, meanwhile, returned to action with a win against West Brom after their game with Aston Villa was postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak at the club's training ground.

Ayling is expecting a tough test from the visitors under the LS11 lights and believes the Leeds squad know what they have to do.

“Steve Bruce has done brilliantly there, he’s got a team playing how he wants to play," Ayling said ahead of kick-off.

“We know it will be a very tricky game, very similar to the game we played against West Ham.

“I think it will be the same kind of way that they played, so we know we’ve got to do better, try and put our game out there and try to get the three points."

The defender also had some stern words to say about his side's recent problems with dead ball situations.

“I don’t think it was our best game, certain areas weren’t good enough,” he explained.

“On our set-pieces, we’re going through a bit of tricky time with them but we’re working hard to put that right and hopefully we can.

“We’ve got to stand up and be counted, to do a lot better at set-plays. Other teams are suffering the same things, it’s not just us.

"We need to do a lot better at set plays because at the minute that is our let down in games.

"We step up a league and the takers are better than they were in the Championship and the people who are running onto it are a lot stronger.

“We’re only 12 games into the season and we’re still new to it, we’re still learning.”