Pontus Jansson suggests how he felt about Leeds boss’ decision to drop him earlier in the season

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Pontus Jansson was briefly dropped from the Leeds United side earlier in the season.

Pontus Jansson has told BBC Radio Leeds that he respected Thomas Christiansen’s decision to drop him from the Leeds side earlier in the season, and suggested that the call was probably one of the reasons for his current form.

Jansson was simply a colossus during his first season at Elland Road, helping Leeds take themselves to the brink of the play-offs in the Championship.

His form at the start of this season was arguably not quite as impressive, even when the Whites kept six clean sheets in his first six league appearances of the campaign. However, his form seemed to go off the boil from mid-September and he was ultimately dropped for the win over Bristol City in October.

Injury allowed Jansson to get back into the team quicker than Christiansen may have preferred, and while the Swede was initially still not at his best, he has looked significantly more like the centre-back who was so inspirational during his first year in Yorkshire in the last few games – scoring in the draw with Aston Villa and win over Norwich at the weekend.

And after the win over the Canaries, he opened up about Christiansen’s decision to leave him out of the side earlier in the season, and hinted that being dropped has helped him rediscover his best form.

“We have supported him since the first day since he came in. If I talk personally, he has been good for me. When I was not in my best shape, he took me away and I respected that 100 per cent and I worked even harder on the training ground,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“It was like a wake-up call for me to really understand that now I have to step up. And after that, I feel like I’ve been better and better in every game, every training. I really respect him.

“Last year, I was one of the most important players and then he took me away so that was a big decision for him to make, but I respected him, I supported him. Of course, at the moment against Bristol away it was tough but like I said, I worked hard in the training – every day, I was there doing some extra – and now I get the result back so I am also proud of myself that I came out of this.”

There is no question that Leeds’ play-off hopes will be in a much better position if they have Jansson at the top of his game, contributing at both ends of the pitch.

And Christiansen will be hoping that he can inspire Leeds to get themselves back in the top six – which is what will happen if they beat Hull City at Elland Road on Saturday.