LEEDS, England, May 2 (Reuters) – Leeds United might have moved further clear of relegation danger after Friday’s 3-1 Premier League win over Burnley, but manager Daniel Farke insists his side must look to win their remaining three fixtures.
Leeds’ home victory took them to 43 points, which should be enough to ensure survival as no team has been relegated previously from the Premier League with that tally.
However, Farke wants his team to keep up a winning mentality.
“Even if we should be mathematically safe before the last game day, then we would fight for each and every point,” he said.
“And we want to finish as strong as possible in order to enjoy also the last game, to give our supporters more to cheer about.”
Farke called the victory over Burnley – with goals from Anton Stach, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin – a “massive” boost.
“The mentality and the work ethic and the unity and the spirit in the dressing room of these lads is really second to none, and I’m just proud of what they deliver at the moment,” said Farke.
“I said before the game, 12 points to fight for, but now we have the first three under our belt, we also want to win the following nine.”
German midfielder Stach opened the scoring in the eighth-minute with a low, long-range shot and drew extra praise from his manager.
“He always delivers unbelievable workloads in terms of covering distance, delivers top set pieces, delivers goals, he delivers assists,” Farke said of his 27-year-old compatriot.
“Top mentality, strong in the duels … I think he plays an outstanding season and he deserves all the praise and is in the spotlight. Definitely one of our key players and one of our best players on this level.”
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)
