Ezgjan Alioski feels English football's hectic festive period is something unique to the country, but Leeds United will approach the tests ahead game by game as they look to achieve maximum points.
The Whites are poised to kick off a gruelling stretch on Saturday that will see them play four games in the space of 12 days, including three matches against fellow promotion hopefuls.
They kick off with a trip to Fulham before returning to Elland Road to host Preston North End on Boxing Day, their only home fixture of the spell.
Marcelo Bielsa and his men then cap it off with a trip to the West Midlands where they will face Birmingham City and Championship league leaders West Bromwhich Albion to bring in the New Year.
Speaking at Leeds Children's Hospital, where members of the first team were making their annual pre-Christmas visit, North Macedonia international Alioski acknowledged he anticipates a demanding schedule, albeit one that will hopefully deliver its own rewards.
"I think it’s not the first time that we do this," he said. "It’s special in England to do this, it’s nice.
"It’s not easy, but it’s much better to think game-by-game [rather than] think we’re going to have a lot of games in a short period. The best thing is to think game-by-game and to win game-by-game.
"Of course, we need to manage this, we need a lot of recovery after the games but I think we did a lot, we work a lot to be fit enough to do these games.
"This is a nice challenge to see how fit we are, how hard we’ve worked in preparation and not worry about the recovery because we are mentally strong to do this."
Alioski added he expects Bielsa to rotate squad members throughout the period, in order to ward off fatigue, but every player will have to be prepared to play their part.
"It’s normal, he decides this in the end, so we need to be ready, we’re going to need everybody," he said.
"Even if the same team plays all the games, it’s going good and we win every game, I hope it’s like it. What he decides, we need to be ready everybody because we’re sure that he’ll need every one of us."
