The opposite’ – Ethan Ampadu outlines Leeds United plan for Stoke City and Derby County away double header

Whites skipper Ethan Ampadu has given a strong message in detailing Leeds United’s approach for their Festive away days at Stoke City and Derby County – inspired by the disappointment of last year.

Just like in 2023, Leeds are going for two Christmas road games on the back of a 4-0 win at Elland Road – Daniel Farke’s Whites having blitzed Oxford United on Saturday – one year on after doing the same to Ipswich Town.

This time last year, Daniel Farke’s Whites were then preparing for back-to-back away confrontations against Preston North End and West Brom – games which eventually failed to deliver a single point.

The Christmas agony started at Deepdale when Illan Meslier was sent off as part of a 2-1 loss to Preston. Three days later, Farke’s Whites slumped to a 1-0 setback at The Hawthorns as they experienced back-to-back defeats for the first time in his career.

Twelve months ago, second-placed Leeds are again going for back-to-back away games at a time when the emphasis is squarely on United’s record away from Elland Road.

Ampadu acknowledges his squad are not satisfied with their away record but that Leeds are keen to remedy it with an entirely different result from last year’s Festive away games.

“I believe if you are going to compare it to last year, we are going to strive for the polar opposite of last year,” stated Ampadu to the YEP, sizing up Stoke and Derby.

“We are going to want to put on better performances and come away with better results.

“I know there’s a lot of people talking about issues away from home but we recognize that away and home games may be different. But we want to try and keep it the same, remain the same game, still play our game.

“Obviously other teams can try and influence that in their different ways but it’s something that we are not happy with as a squad and we set ourselves at the highest standards. Whenever we dip below that, even just a little bit, we constantly strive and reclaim to get back.”

Pressed on whether Leeds needed to do anything different in their gameplan away from home – or if it was simply an issue of grabbing their opportunities – Ampadu reasoned: “We create chances every game, we have got a lot of quality.

“I’m not saying it’s the rub of the green because there are still things that we need to learn on.

“But we are doing that within ourselves and even home games that we have won, there are still things that can improve in those games.

“Just as a collective, ‘  whether it’s a victory or a tie or a defeat, we accept it as it is and seek to better every single one of them”.

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