Ollie Watkins praises Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa

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Ollie Watkins has told talkSPORT (broadcast on 5/2 from 12:30) that Ander Herrera’s praise for Marcelo Bielsa during the Leeds United documentary stuck with him, but joked that he hopes that he tells his Leeds United side to do something stupid before the end of the season.

Leeds are, once again, amongst the pace-setters in the Championship. The Whites are second in the table, and at one stage, looked to be striding away from the chasing pack along with West Brom.

However, the chasing pack – which includes Brentford – have closed the gap. And it now looks set to be a promotion race that will go right down the wire.

And one of the players looking for his team to move ahead of Leeds, Watkins was asked about what he makes of Bielsa and the job he is doing at Elland Road.

“I watched the Leeds documentary. When players like Ander Herrera when he was at Manchester United was saying he’s best manager he’s had, you’ve got to believe him really,” he told talkSPORT.

“The job he’s done at Leeds, the intensity of the players, definitely when we played against them, they were fit, they didn’t stop running, they were always moving, I think it’s a different Leeds to the one we’ve seen in the previous three or four years. He’s obviously doing a good job.

“Hopefully he tells them to do something stupid this year.”

TBR View – Leeds face defining period in season

Leeds fans will need no reminding of how important their next two games could be. The Whites travel to Nottingham Forest this weekend, before facing Watkins’s Brentford side at Griffin Park next Tuesday.

Three points from those two games should be enough to keep Leeds in the top two. But two victories could be massive for Bielsa’s side.

United have lost three of their last four games. So if they can turnaround their form against two of their promotion rivals, they will be back in a fantastic position.