Gjanni Alioski says that he fully expects a tough challenge for Leeds United when they face Middlesbrough this weekend, adding that the Whites' rivals see them as the equivalent of Real Madrid in the Championship .
The North Macedonia international made his return from a month-long absence in Tuesday's victory over Reading, having not played since late October.
Having successfully come through unscathed, Alioski is likely to push for a return to the starting line-up under Marcelo Bielsa when United host a Yorkshire derby on Saturday.
Boro, who are coached by former Leeds favourite Jonathan Woodgate, currently sit only one place above the bottom four and relegation zone in the Championship.
Despite this however, Alioski was coy on labelling the Whites as favourites to take another three points at Elland Road, adding that he believes many second-tier sides view United as the divisional equal to La Liga and Champions League heavyweights Madrid.
"You know, to play against Leeds, everybody will give everything," he stated. "They know to beat Leeds, I think for the teams, [it] means wow, they beat Real Madrid here in the Championship.
"We play every time against teams that are on the bottom, [and] it’s hard to play against them.
"I know last year even Middlesbrough [were] a hard team, even though now they are not so good in the table.
"It’s difficult. It’s never easy to say we are the favourite but we know what we can do and we know how strong we are and now with four victories in a row we are confident.
"We are all here and if we go step by step like this 1-0, 2-1, 1-0, it's enough. Nobody wants five or six goals - we want only three points and it will be a big game and not easy.
"But the team is ready, especially after this three points yesterday and I hope we can give the home fans three points."
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