Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla has urged his side to focus on securing promotion if the Championship season resumes.
The league is currently suspended until the end of April, with the game’s leaders having decided to postpone fixtures until the situation surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak is more under control.
It means Leeds have been denied their shot at promotion back to the Premier League for the foreseeable future, a considerable blow given they sat top of the table when the league was suspended.
Should it return, their focus will be on securing their return, and Casilla says the squad is more than capable of doing so.
“The truth is that before all this happened, we had nine games left of the season and were leaders in the league,” he told Onda Regional de Murcia.
“We’d also managed five straight wins, so we were giving ourselves a good chance of promotion.
“Now we have to wait to see if we are finishing the season, but if we are, we have to return and treat the nine remaining games like a mini-season.
Like the rest of us, Casilla is currently following government advice and staying in isolation as the UK attempts to halt the spread of COVID-19.
The government’s stance on the outbreak has changed dramatically since the beginning, with them quickly abandoning their ‘herd immunity’ ideas in favour of isolation and social distancing.
That original idea has now been widely criticised, and the Leeds goalkeeper admits it was surreal to see the Prime Minister suggest it.
“We watched the news and saw Boris (Johnson) is on TV talking about everything is fine, you have to pass the virus on, not follow Spain, Italy and China,” he added.
“It was a bit surreal what he was saying on the TV when you see what’s happening in Spain and other countries.
“But the truth is that he’s gone back a bit because he was advised that it wasn’t the best thing for the country. I think that better measures have been taken now.”
