Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has said it is unrealistic to expect his forwards to post elite scoring numbers in a season focused first and foremost on survival.
Farke, a former forward himself, stressed the importance of physicality, hold-up play, counter-pressing and work-rate, especially when Leeds spend long spells without possession away from home.
The Whites’ top scorer in the Premier League this season is Joe Rodon, a centre-back, with two goals.
“You always have to adapt to reality,” Farke said on BBC Radio Leeds. “It’s quite normal if you play for a top side who is creating chance after chance and pretty dominant. I think that’s quite normal that it’s then easier also to have more chances and to score more goals. The more chances you have, the more likely it is to score more goals.
“If you play, for example, for a newly promoted side you have to take the first step to be rock solid, to be good against the ball.
“When you travel to places like Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City, it’s not very likely that you create one chance after another. It’s, of course, more challenging and more difficult.
“But this is also what you have to expect as a striker, and also how I rate my strikers, because we are not out for winning the Golden Boot this season. So our only challenge, our only target and our only goal is to make sure that we are there with survival, that we stay in this league.”