Kyle Bartley suggests Leeds still need to make progress in this area

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Leeds United are currently 11th in the Championship ahead of their clash with Burton.

Sheffield Wednesday’s Fernando Forestieri (L) in action with Leeds United’s Kyle Bartley

Kyle Bartley has claimed that while Leeds United have made good progress since the summer on the defensive side of the game, they still need to improve going forward, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

Garry Monk’s men began the season in largely disappointing fashion as they did not register their first point until the third game of the season, or their first win until their fourth.

Leeds manager Garry Monk

However, since their tough start, they have looked considerably more impressive, and have managed to climb into the top-half of the Championship table after winning five of their last eight league games.

Nevertheless, Bartley is under no illusions that there are still improvements that need to be made before they get too carried away.

“The manager spoke in pre-season about how it might take a little bit of time,” he said, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Chris Wood is Leeds’ top scorer by some distance

“There were 10, 11 or 12 new players who came in along with a new management and staff so that always meant it would take time for all the ideas to work.

“As a team, we look a lot more solid defensively and if we can sort out our attacking threat a little bit more then we will be fine.”

Leeds’ Hadi Sacko with Bartley

Bartley’s assessment of Leeds’ current main problem appears to be correct. The Whites are the lowest scorers in the top-half of the division, while only four teams in the entire league have scored on fewer occasions than the 14 times that Monk’s men have this term, and centre-back Bartley currently finds himself as the club’s joint second highest scorer in the league with two goals.

And with games against Norwich and Newcastle on the horizon, Bartley will be hoping that Leeds find that ruthless touch when they face Burton today to give them a massive boost of confidence ahead of the tricky pair of fixtures.