Leeds boss Daniel Farke happy to be ‘one point closer’ to Premier League safety | OneFootball

Daniel Farke insisted Leeds were “one point closer” to retaining their Premier League status after being held to a frustrating 0-0 home draw by Brentford.

Farke’s side missed the chance to climb six points clear of the bottom three, with relegation rivals Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and West Ham all in action on Sunday.

Neither goalkeeper was seriously test in a forgettable match at Elland Road, which was low on quality and creativity in the final third.

“We are one point closer,” said Farke, who predicted “six to eight” points would be enough to stay in the top flight in his pre-match press conference.

“Now we have to win five to seven points. This will do. It means we need to win two games, or we need (to win) one game and a few draws, or whatever.

“If we draw from now on each every game, I will take it, because with 40 points, you definitely stay in this league.”

Leeds, whose best chances came from long-range efforts from Lukas Nmecha and captain Ethan Ampadu, failed to score for the fourth successive league game as their winless top-flight run extended to six matches.

“I think you could today see why Brentford is not just an established Premier League side, but also a side who is sitting in position seven and fighting for Europe,” Farke added.

“You could see that they are rock-solid at the back, a really good defensive firewall.”

Brentford boss Keith Andrews described it as a “hard fought” point for his side and was clearly delighted by his players’ resilience.

“Hard, hard fought,” Andrews said. “Very proud of what the players produced, really proud of the mentality coming to a very tough place against a really good side that do things really well.

“I have a lot of admiration for Daniel and what he’s done in his career full stop, and certainly the way he’s got the team going. Yeah, a good point.”

Brentford have climbed to within two points of sixth-placed Chelsea, having lost only one of their last eight league games.

The Bees did not allow Leeds to build any momentum, subsequently keeping Elland Road relatively subdued throughout the match and Andrews said that had been a key part of his gameplan.

He added: “It’s not a secret, when this place gets going it’s so lively, the fans, the way they get behind the team and how that can affect performances is something you need to deal with.

“The players attacked it really well with the mentality to deal with it. Defending against some really impressive players. We take immense pride that we dug deep to keep a clean sheet.”