Nottingham Forest’s Michael Dawson comments on West Brom & Leeds United clashes

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Nottingham Forest will come up against West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United for their first two Championship fixtures.

Michael Dawson has stated that he expects two tough fixtures when Nottingham Forest take on West Brom and Leeds United in their opening two fixtures of the new Championship campaign.

The Forest man felt that West Brom ‘struggled’ in the Championship last season, whilst he lauded Leeds for the manner in which they played – both teams missed out on promotion after losing their play-off semi-final clashes.

Once again, both West Brom, who are now managed by Slaven Bilic, and Leeds, who are still managed by Marcelo Bielsa, will be one of the favourites to go up.

Speaking to the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Show on TalkSport (29/07/2019 at 8:45 am), Forest man Dawson shared his thoughts on facing West Brom and Leeds in their first two matches of the new season.

“Two sky games,” Dawson told TalkSport. “We’ll get ready for Saturday against West Brom. They struggled last year after coming out of the Premier League. I think they’ll be a different side this year. It’s their second season in the Championship, they’ll know what it’s about after being in the Premier League for so long.

“It’s important to have a good start. West Brom at home and then Leeds. They are two tough games. Leeds obviously had a great season and then missed out on promotion. I thought they were fantastic last season. The way they played. The intensity. Then they just missed out in the play-offs.

“It’s one of those, the Championship. It’s gruelling. You have your ups and downs.”

Given how they performed last season, the players they have at their disposal, and the managers they have in the dugout, it will be a surprise if one of West Brom or Leeds don’t finish in the top-six.

Albion’s defence was one of their problems during the previous campaign, whilst Leeds struggled to show some bite in the attacking third.

If both those teams can add a little bit of consistency to their game then they will be very dangerous for whoever they face and will be favourites not just for a top-six finish, but an automatic spot.