The Leeds United striker has picked two surprising players as the toughest in the dressing room.
Chris Wood has told LUTV that Lewie Coyle and Kalvin Phillips are two of the toughest players at Leeds United.
Coyle, 21, and 20-year-old Phillips are certainly some of the brightest prospects at Leeds, with the latter already a prominent figure in Garry Monk’s best XI this season with nine starts.
But neither would fit the role of the archetypal hardman in football – and probably not in a team which also has no-nonsense figures such as Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jansson in defence.
Nevertheless, big striker Wood has claimed that the apathy reflected in both players’ approach to cold weather is in fact a big sign of their toughness.
The New Zealand hitman told LUTV: “There’s a lot of soft people in the team. They like to wear scarves and snoods and things like that.
“To be fair, Kal and Coyley, no matter what the weather is, they’re always out in t-shirts. It’s been bled into them so it has to be one of them.”
The debate surrounding Leeds’ toughest player might run and run, but what can’t be argued is that they have a collective mental toughness which seems more obvious every week.
The Whites won only one of their first six Championship outings, but nine games later and Monk’s troops sit ninth in the table, one point adrift of the playoff places.
It’s been a stunning turnaround by the former Swansea City boss and his playing staff, and one that could not have been possible without plenty of strong-minded players in the ranks.
And being mentally tough is arguably more important in football than being physically intimidating.
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