David Prutton says Leeds United should use Nottingham Forest as ‘fuel’ to their promotion push due to the way their fans reacted to the club’s relegation.
Prutton was writing in his latest column for the Yorkshire Evening Post, where he claimed Leeds simply must use the mocking they were the subject of as motivation.
Leeds spent much of the season fighting alongside Forest to beat the drop but ultimately came up short, eventually finishing six points behind the East Midlands outfit.
Forest secured their safety with a 1-0 win over Arsenal in the penultimate game of the season, while Leeds were relegated on the final day after a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
As such, Forest supporters were quick to revel in Leeds’ misery to rub salt into the wounds of supporters after such a disappointing campaign.
Prutton says Leeds can use Forest as ‘fuel’
Now relegation is very much in the rear view window, Leeds can instead look forward to building a side capable of an immediate Premier League return.
That said, Prutton believes Leeds must keep some of the comments from opposing sides in the back of their mind as extra motivation.
He said: “I had a quick look at Twitter upon Leeds relegation and there were so many Forest fans pointing the finger at Leeds and reveling in their misery.
“But if that’s not fuel to the fire of getting a good start and sticking two fingers up to the rest of the division and those in the Premier League who believe themselves now to be bigger football clubs than Leeds then I don’t know what is. That’s exactly what they have got to do.”
It is not uncommon for supporters of other clubs to enjoy the downfall of Leeds, particularly in the age of social media.
But football has a tendency for hitting you with karma and who knows, Leeds may well be swapping places with Forest this time in 12 months.
Not that Leeds should need any extra motivation, but Prutton believes it is right there if required.
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