Daniel Farke hopeful that ‘curse is broken’ for Leeds United following an untimely winter bout of travelsickness

AFTER some hard lessons on the road for Leeds United at the end of 2023, Daniel Farke is happy and relieved 'that curse is broken' - in his words. A confident and comprehensive 3-0 FA Cup success at Peterborough United[1] on Sunday - when Leeds made light of some painful and desperate cup days and nights on the road in recent years - did more than earn the club a place in round four in the view of their manager. It also provided a psychologically important moment in their season after comfortably bettering a side whom Farke put on a par with teams in the lower-half of the Championship table ahead of the game.

United's six league defeats this term have all arrived on the road, including a trio of successive losses at West Brom, Preston[2] and Sunderland[3].

Picture: Getty.

With four of the club's next six league games scheduled to be away from home, it possessed significance in Farke's eyes. The German, whose side visit Cardiff City[4] on Saturday, said: "It was a topic in our team talk. "We have had really good away games like Leicester, Ipswich, Blackburn and Millwall, but the last games were where we had to play with an underload (player less) at Preston and lost this game and had penalty decisions against us at West Brom as well, by the way.

"We wanted to show this resilience and win again. And this (Sunday) was exactly like a match at Championship level and it is good that the curse is broken from the last weeks and that we have this result. "It's good for our confidence against a really good side and excited home crowd and a difficult pitch, which you also sometimes face away.

"Sometimes, you get the feeling that they know Leeds are a good possession side, so they don't cut the grass in order to make our lives more difficult. Everything is allowed and we have to be prepared for it." Defender Robin Koch[5] is to reportedly sign a pre-contract deal to join Eintracht Frankfurt on a permanent basis.

The 27-year-old - out of contract this summer - is on a season-long loan at the club.

References

1. ^ Peterborough United (www.yorkshirepost.co.uk)
2. ^ Preston (www.yorkshirepost.co.uk)
3. ^ Sunderland (www.yorkshirepost.co.uk)
4. ^ Cardiff City (www.yorkshirepost.co.uk)
5. ^ Robin Koch (www.yorkshirepost.co.uk)