Nobody is thinking of quitting Leeds United as they struggle to retain their top-flight status, skipper Dominic Matteo has said before Tuesday night’s crunch match with Everton.
The Yorkshire giants lie third from bottom of the Premier League and need to pull together like never before to ensure they do not drop to Division One next season.
That is exactly what the players are doing, Matteo says, despite speculation that Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Paul Robinson, James Milner and the captain himself could all be off at the end of this term.
”There’s no talk of that,” Matteo told British media when asked of possible exits in the summer.
”We’ve all agreed we will just battle on because we want to stay in this division. We all want to stay at Leeds.
”That’s the kind of talk there is in the dressing room. We want to make sure we stay in the Premier League and we are going to try our best to do that.
”We are trying to be positive. We know it will be difficult, but we will keep battling on. This season it’s been hard for us all, so if we could stay up it would be fantastic.
”It’s a good learning curve, and if we can come out of it at the other end then it will be great for us for next season.”
Leeds face 14th-placed Everton on Tuesday night. A win would put them on 34 points, level with the three sides above them, although they would stay in the relegation zone on goal difference. — Sapa-DPA