Chasing pack are primed for any slip-up

GARRY MONK refused to take his eyes off Leeds’ next game despite an impressive toppling of promotion rivals Brighton.

Chris Wood’s 26th and 27th goals of the season earned United a 2-0 win at Elland Road, denying Brighton top spot going into the international break.

Brighton head into the recess in second but know Leeds, Huddersfield Town and Reading are all behind them and primed to take advantage of any further slips.

But Monk is not willing to contemplate that, nor securing a play-off place, as his side head into the final eight games eight points shy of second and eight clear of seventh.

They meet Reading next, on April 1.

“The win is a massive boost for confidence and morale, offensively and defensively we were very good against an excellent side,” he said.

“We delivered against a top side and it’s nice to go into the international break like that.

“We prepared really well and tried to maximise what we did in the week to give us the best chance of performing. We delivered an excellent performance from start to finish. We had to be at our level and we pushed that level.

“We are not naive. We know the situation we face but we are focused on the next game and the next three points.”

Monk made arguably the biggest call of his tenure in omitting lynchpin defender Pontus Jansson.

The Swede is understood to be fit, so leaving him out in favour of the rarely-used Liam Cooper was a gamble that paid off.

“Number one – I’ll always do what I feel is best for the team,” Monk said.

“That goes for who we’re playing against, the set-up, but also the principles we have to follow on a daily basis.”

Monk also confirmed in-form exEngland goalkeeper Rob Green had triggered a new one-year contract.

Brighton had to leave almost immediately after a disappointing afternoon to catch a flight and will have taken to the air knowing they could have been top and in touching distance of the Premier League during their fortnight off.

“I’m disappointed,” boss Chris Hughton said. “I thought Leeds were better in the first half, had more of the ball but we were quite happy.

“We knew the game would open up and it was a question of moments. They scored a goal from a quality ball in from a player in form.

“On chances it’s not a game we deserved to win but we were better in the second half than we were the first.”