Eddie Gray has been speaking ahead of Leeds United’s FA Cup tie at Chelsea this evening.
The Whites make the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Premier League opposition for the first time since relegation in May last year, with a very different looking team to what ended last season.
Though it of course comes with results on the pitch, there is a very different feel around Elland Road to this time last year. Leeds enter this game having won 11 of their 12 matches since the turn of the New Year.
There is only a handful of players from last year’s team still playing regularly at Leeds due to the mass exodus that took place in the summer, three of which are Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Whites legend Gray believes those three players have the ability to tear any defence apart, including Chelsea this evening.
Gray hypes up Rutter, Summerville, Gnonto
He said: “A little bit of excitement for me playing against a top class side again to see how our players have progressed, we have got some young players – Rutter, Summerville and Gnonto. On their day they are capable of tearing anyone apart. They have got good talent. That’s the thing about the team now.”
Unfortunately for Leeds, this game arrives at a far from ideal time of the season considering what is at stake in the league, and the tight schedule they have coming up.
With that in mind, Summerville and Rutter are both fitness doubts for Leeds tonight and with Huddersfield Town away on Saturday lunchtime, it feels unlikely they will be risked.
Gnonto could still be involved, but it would’ve been brilliant to see Summerville and Rutter test themselves against top class opposition considering the seasons they have had.
Hopefully Leeds are able to get promoted this season so these type of games aren’t just a one-off event and Summerville and Rutter can show their improvement on a weekly basis.
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