Former Leeds United striker Chris Wood is confident that the Whites will be a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League ahead of the start of the new campaign.
Leeds, who discovered their fixture list for the 2020/21 Premier League campaign on Thursday, brought an end to their 16-year top-flight exile last month as they scooped the Championship title, just over a year on from suffering play-off heartache at the hands of Derby County.
Head coach Marcelo Bielsa refused to rip up his blueprint after the suffering in May 2019 and finely tuned his squad to ensure that they would be a much stronger unit the next time around, as they proved to be with their Championship title success.
Now, with the start of the Premier League campaign and a trip to Anfield to face reigning champions Liverpool just under three weeks away, excitement is building within the city, as the club prepares to rub shoulders with English football's elite once again.
Even though Leeds' primary aim for the upcoming season will be survival and then consolidating themselves as a Premier League club once again, Wood, who swapped Elland Road for Burnley back in August 2017, joining the Clarets for a club-record fee, after netting 30 goals in all competitions during the 2016/17 campaign, is adamant that Bielsa's side will cope just fine with the step-up in quality.
As well as that, Wood is also delighted to see fellow former club West Bromwich Albion join Leeds in returning to the top-flight after a two-year absence.
"It was nice seeing them both come up, I had great times at both of them," Wood admitted in an interview with TVNZ.
“West Brom have been up and down and have been in the Prem for a long time so it was much nicer seeing Leeds get up there.
"It's been way too long, I enjoyed my two years there and I’m hoping to see them [Leeds] stay up for a long period of time. I think with the manager they've got they will be."
As well as hoping that Leeds can find their feet as a Premier League outfit once again, Wood, who has established himself as a respectable Premier League operator since making the move to Burnley, is delighted to see the Whites back where they belong after many years of troubles off the pitch.
The New Zealand international continued: “They've just been a big club in the wrong division for a long period of time. And rightly so, because they were run poorly 15 years ago.
“But they're fantastic now, they've got a great manager behind them, they've got a team playing absolutely incredible. They're going to be a real force in the Prem, they're looking to stay up and if not go better."
