Sam Allardyce believes Tottenham have ‘a lot of weaknesses’ as Leeds look to make final-day relegation escape.
Leeds enter the final day with their Premier League safety out of their own hands, with Allardyce’s side requiring a win against Spurs to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
Leeds also need Leicester to fail to beat West Ham, and Everton to lose at home to Bournemouth, to escape the relegation places this weekend.
Ahead of the clash, Allardyce provided an update on his squad and said Leeds are willing to ‘gamble’ on the fitness of their injured forwards.
“Rodrigo trained today and we are going to give Patrick Bamford as long as we can. We will find out tomorrow morning,” Allardyce told his pre-match press conference.
“We will be happy to gamble on anyone’s fitness, if they want to play and if I think they can make a contribution, then I will consider it. After Sunday they will have a summer to recover.
“Of course, if the medical team say the risk of damage is too high, then that is another thing. But a lot of it is up to the player.”
Allardyce said he has been pleased with ‘mood and application’ of his squad despite their precarious position and hopes the Elland Road atmosphere can inspire his players this weekend.
“I love the mood and application. We have been training at the ground because here is where we will live or die on Sunday, in terms of the result.
“All we can try to do is give the players the best opportunity possible to get the result they need.
“It’s all about this stadium on Sunday and the fantastic atmosphere that will go with it, as it was when we played Newcastle [in a 2-2 draw last time at Elland Road]. I hope we can go one step further and win the game.”
Allardyce believes the atmosphere in the ground will be dependent on scores elsewhere and said Leeds will be well aware of how Leicester and Everton are performing.
“The fans will tell us what the score is. They won’t need me to tell them. They will be able to tell by the mood of the crowd.
“For my escape, which has only happened once on the last game of the season – the second season at Bolton – not only were we wining but we also knew that West Ham weren’t winning at Birmingham, because the fans told us.
“But the only focus has to be for the players to try to win the game – there can’t be anything beyond that.”
The 68-year-old has failed to win since taking charge of Leeds on an interim basis, but believes he has spotted weaknesses in this weekend’s opponents.
“Tactics have to be put into place. Tottenham’s outstanding strength is their front lads. When Tottenham have the ball our lads have to make sure that is not successful.
“After that, the question is what are their weaknesses? We saw a lot of weaknesses against Brentford last week that we have got to try to exploit. We have got to do that the best we possibly can and play the best game we possibly can.
“They have to play for the entire period. We can’t afford to do what we did against West Ham, which is get lost in the second half and we couldn’t recover.”
