Read Kieran Trippier's programme notes pre-Leeds United | OneFootball

It’s always massive to start off a new year with a win, and the lads are feeling positive after back-to-back victories and a clean sheet at the weekend. Now we’re looking forward to another home game tonight.

We know we’ve not performed to our best levels this season, but we’re in a good position at the halfway point and we’re still in all the competitions. There’s still so much that we can improve on and performances will get better, but it’s all about timing.

The last two results have been good and the six points have lifted us up a few places. As a player you don’t want to be fixated on the table, but we know the reality of the Premier League and how relentless it is.

January will be a demanding month, because we’ve got another eight games in all, but all the players are ready. That includes myself, and it was good to be back involved with the team on Sunday.

It’s been a tough journey, but I’ve worked my socks off to get back to help the lads. I enjoyed being around the lads in the dressing room, using my voice and experience – which is something we’ve perhaps been missing with a few of us sidelined in recent weeks.

That leadership element is huge in a young squad. When some of the older boys can’t take part in training sessions, the travelling, playing games and managing them, the impact of that probably gets underestimated. We can calm things down, help younger players and contribute in certain situations when things are going against us.

I do believe we’ve lacked having that experience around the dressing room over the past five to six weeks. But others have stepped up and now, slowly but surely, we’re starting to come back to bolster the group.

And of course, Bruno Guimarães, our captain, keeps on leading by example on the pitch and did so again against Crystal Palace. That’s what we expect from Bruno, and I’m sure what he expects from himself.

He’s a top player for a reason – he’s a gamechanger, a winner – and you need people like him, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes to step up and chip in with goals. Everyone leads in different ways, and that’s important in our team.

I also need to mention Lewis Miley. I’ve been raving about him since my second season at Newcastle; he’s still a young kid now, but he was a really young kid then.

I’ve always said he can go as far as he wants to go, but stepping in at full-back, which is not an easy position, in the manner he has is unbelievable. The world’s his oyster. He’s arguably been our Man of the Match for the last four or five game – and Tino Livramento and I have a fight on our hands!

Home or away, Leeds is always a difficult fixture. They’re fighting for different reasons, they bring fantastic support and it’s a brilliant club with an impressive manager and some good players, including Sean Longstaff who I’m sure will get a great reception tonight.

In football, it’s about respect and Longy is a Geordie through and through. He came through the youth system, played more than 200 games for our club and was a big part of our success in winning the cup final and qualifying for the Champions League.

I’m sure our fans will give one of their own the appreciation he deserves – but I’m sorry, Sean, I hope tonight you don’t score and I hope you don’t play well!