Pascal Struijk reveals Leeds United issue that needs to be fixed | OneFootball

Leeds defender Pascal Struijk has insisted that the Whites need to stop chasing last-minute winners to make their lives easier.

Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk has challenged the team to finish teams off and not be dependent on late winners after the Whites drew 1-1 with fellow promotion chasers West Brom last Saturday.

The Yorkshire club entertained Tony Mowbray’s men at Elland Road and nearly fell behind when John Swift sent his curling effort from the edge of the box narrowly wide.

Daniel Farke’s side made Albion rue such a costly miss, with Junior Firpo continuing his incredible goalscoring streak by nodding the hosts in front from a teasing Dan James delivery.

But after responding well, West Brom grabbed an equaliser towards the end of the first half, with Darnell Furlong guiding home Swift’s deep free-kick delivery for his first goal of the campaign.

No further goals would follow with the points shared, as Leeds couldn’t replicate their late heroics against Sunderland or Sheffield United.

Seen as a positive result, Leeds have now gone three points clear of the Blades at the summit and are now eight points clear of third-placed Burnley given the Clarets were involved in FA Cup action.

Reflecting on the draw with West Brom, defender Pascal Struijk, who netted late strikes against both the Blades and Black Cats, set down a challenge for the team to ensure their promotion challenge goes as smoothly as possible.

Pascal Struijk demands Leeds United to stop searching for late-winning goals

Speaking post-match to LUTV, Pascal Struijk praised the character Leeds United have shown in recent weeks to keep battling at the very end of games for points, but insisted that it won’t always work, as highlighted against West Brom.

When asked about needing a late goal for a third successive game, Struijk said: "I feel like that shouldn't be a general thing.

“The fact that it happens is really good from us, it shows that we are ready and fit, 90 minutes long.

“But the quicker we can finish games off the better for us.

“I think the fact that we went up 1-0 was really good but a little bit unfortunate that we gave it away after."

Leeds United must find clinical touch earlier in games

Despite possessing the fitness and relentless nature to fight for every minute, Leeds will have to ensure they finish opposition teams off a lot quicker than what they are doing at the moment, with the team not always being able to find a winner so late on.

If the Whites could make games more comfortable, then the anxiety around Elland Road would clear, and the players would have a much calmer experience of seeing out games and working towards achieving their Premier League ambitions.