Birmingham’s Pep Clotet opens up on what he ‘stole’ from Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa

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Birmingham City welcome Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United to the West Midlands tomorrow – the Blues boss having been inspired by the Whites head coach.

Ahead of their Championship clash with Leeds United, Birmingham City manager Pep Clotet has spoken of his admiration for Elland Road counterpart Marcelo Bielsa (Birmingham website).

The Blues welcome the Whites to St Andrew’s on Sunday hoping to put an end to a four-match winless run which included three defeats, but Leeds will also be eager to overcome a blip of their own.

Leeds had previously managed an 11-game unbeaten run which included seven wins in a row, but their last three games ended in two draws and a defeat, though West Bromwich Albion have also stumbled, so only a three-point gap separates second from first in the table.

Clotet, who spent time at Leeds as assistant manager to former boss Garry Monk in the 2016-17 season, admits he owes a lot to Bielsa’s methods, having studied the latter’s techniques, observed training sessions and watched his side’s games for a number of years – joking that he “stole” his methods.

The 42-year-old told the official Birmingham website: “I know Leeds very well. They are a team I love to see playing because it’s a style of football that I identify myself to. Some of the way that they work and the way that they play, I extracted a lot of things from Marcelo, I stole really.

“For me it’s a pleasure to see him in his second season getting his group playing that kind of football and making a massive difference in the Championship. I think he deserves that and more, and it is a pleasure to see a team like that doing well. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to make it very difficult for them because we want to secure the three points.”

Jake Clarke-Salter, Marc Roberts and Maikel Kieftenbeld remain sidelined for Birmingham, who are currently 16th in the Championship table, while Pablo Hernandez and Adam Forshaw are missing for Leeds, who are second in the standings.