Garry Monk talks up Leeds qualities as he seeks rare hat-trick

Garry Monk is looking to bring down Leeds for a third successive time – but knows his former club will be dangerous opponents for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

Monk coached Leeds over the 2016/17 and came close to leading the side into the play-offs before their hopes fell away towards the end of the campaign.

However, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side second in the Championship this time around, hopes are alive for Leeds again that this will finally be the year they end their long wait for promotion.

However, a win at Hillsborough will be no easy feat, with Monk having the Owls riding high in third and with the former Leeds boss seeking to claim a third successive win over Bielsa after he lead Birmingham to 2-1 and 1-0 successes over the Argentine last season.

All the same, Monk is refusing to take anything for granted and knows Leeds will be fired up when they take to the field on Saturday lunchtime.

“They are up there with a couple of others as the favourites to go up,” Monk told a press conference to preview the game on Thursday. “They were unlucky not to go up last year.”

He added: “There are expectations at the club, like there was when I was there. They had a lot of issues off the pitch when I was there, now they are a lot more settled off the pitch.”

Asked if Wednesday’s ambitions to go up match that of Leeds’, Monk continued: “Both clubs have been out of the Premier League for a number of years. But expectations don’t change.”

Sheffield Wednesday team news

Wednesday will be without captain Tom Lees for the match against his former club; the centre-half still not match-fit despite returning to training this week following injury.

Monk, however, will have Massimo Luongo and Keiren Westwood, with the latter’s return giving Monk something of a selection dilemma given the excellent form of Cameron Dawson in nets over recent weeks.