Ahead of his Plymouth Argyle team’s trip to Leeds United, Wayne Rooney has been speaking.
At Elland Road, Plymouth will try to get their first away victory of the season under Rooney, although doing so would be against the odds.
Although it’s never that simple in the Championship, David Prutton’s prediction of a resounding Leeds victory is supported by both teams’ league rankings following his fifth booking of the season against Watford.
Burnley won’t play until Sunday afternoon against Millwall, therefore Leeds, who enter the game on a seven-game winning streak, can move up to second position with a victory.
Junior Firpo’s return following a one-match suspension at Bristol City will also boost Daniel Farke.
Rooney’s admittance as the underdog before Leeds
Rooney has a bad record against Leeds lately; earlier this year, on New Year’s Day, he faced Leeds for the first time as manager of Birmingham City.
In his final game as manager, Rooney’s Blues team lost 3-0 at Elland Road, and he was definitely feeling the full might of the Leeds supporters that day.
He has also had a difficult time at Plymouth, as they presently have the second-worst defensive record in the Championship this season and are one spot outside of the bottom three.
Leeds will only take a victory, and Rooney acknowledged during his pregame press conference that his team is a huge underdog against a “big” and “historic” club.
“We’re going to try and win, and we’re representing the football club,” he stated. There will be times when we suffer, so we must be strong and unite. We must attempt to discipline Leeds while we have the chance. We’ll be making every effort to accomplish that.
It’s another game for us. They are a historic squad and a big club, of course, but for us, it’s just one of three games this week.
Prior to Leeds, Rooney provides an injury update.
The fact that Rooney will be missing a number of important players for different reasons has not made his job at Elland Road any easier.
Following his recent red card at Cardiff City, Ibrahim Cissoko has been suspended, while Darko Gyabi is also not allowed to play against his parent club.
Additionally, according to Rooney, Argyle will be “thin” on the ground without Lewis Gibson and Joe Edwards.
“We’re pretty thin right now,” he stated. Joe Edwards has a rather nasty one, so he will be out for some time. Until the international break, Lewis [Gibson] will not be available.