Monk: I’m only thinking about my current club
BORO BOSS FOCUSED ON TAKING THREE POINTS WOLVES RESPOND TO CHALLENGE
BORO boss Garry Monk is fully focused on the task at hand as he makes his first return to Elland Road today since his reign as Leeds boss ended in the summer.
The 38-year-old takes Boro into the match on the back of a three-game winning run in the Championship with his side holding a play-off position but with just a three-point advantage over today’s opponents.
Monk, who oversaw a narrow 1-0 Tees-Wear victory last time out, said: “It’s not about me. It’s about my team and this club.
“That’s all I’m focused on, that’s all my players are focused on and that’s how we’ve prepared. We’ve come from the international break on three wins so confidence is good and the atmosphere is good.
“We want to carry that on but we know how difficult that can be.
“It will definitely be a difficult game on Sunday but we want to focus on ourselves and try to fight as hard as we can for those three points.”
Middlesbrough will be without defender Cyrus Christie as he serves a one-game ban, while it is unlikely that Rudy Gestede (thigh) will make a return to action just yet.
Leeds host the match after a poor run of form with three defeats from their last three league games and just one win from their last seven leaving them 10th in the table, but only three points off the play-offs.
Nevertheless, boss Thomas Christiansen is confident the Whites can turn things around following the international break - starting with today’s match.
He said: “We are feeling good, we are confident and we expect to have a good result.
“We have had time to change this situation, we cannot continue suffering these defeats, we need to come back and take points now.
“It has been positive over the international break, we have worked well physically and specifically on Sunday’s match.
“The players are always positive, they haven’t lost faith in the team, coach or the club and they are all looking forward to Sunday’s very important game.
“I am confident when the match comes, we want to play a good game in front of our fans.”
Christiansen is hoping to welcome back Caleb Ekuban (foot) after a threemonth injury lay-off, while winger Stuart Dallas is likely to recover from a minor problem he suffered on international duty for Northern Ireland.