Leeds United and Sunderland AFC will have differing Joe Gelhardt feelings amid Hull City praise | OneFootball

Gelhardt has impressed in the early stages of his loan spell at the MKM

Hull City and Sunderland are two sides who harbour contrasting aims heading into the business end of the season.

A point for the Tigers against Norwich City, coupled with Derby County's 4-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers on Friday night, was enough to lift Ruben Selles' side out of the relegation zone. But, make no bones about it, they are still in the midst of a dogfight with 14 games remaining.

Meanwhile, it looked as if Regis Le Bris' men would close the gap on the top two to just four points after Wilson Isidor's 12th league goal of the season against Leeds United, before the Black Cats were hit by a double Joe Rothwell and Pascal Struijk sucker punch at Elland Road, leaving them eight points behind Sheffield United ahead of Saturday's clash at the Stadium of Light.

Despite emerging as 1-0 victors at the MKM Stadium back in October, Sunderland will be all-too aware of how Hull have caused problems for all the top four at varying points, and this weekend, they could be haunted by a former loanee looking to give his parent club a helping hand.

Joe Gelhardt's impressive beginning at Hull City

Joe Gelhardt finds himself at an interesting cross-roads at this moment in time, with EFL onlookers aware of the potential he can reach since bursting onto the scene as a 17-year-old at Wigan Athletic, where his first senior goal ironically came against his current, temporary employers.

Daniel Farke's plethora of striking options meant the 22-year-old only played nine minutes of Championship football for Leeds during the first half of the season against Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City, so a loan move to East Yorkshire provided a perfect synergy, with Hull needing further quality and depth up front just as much as the Leeds man needed regular gametime.

"This manager likes to play with energy and high tempo, which I think suits me. I've had coaches in the past at Leeds who play the same way, so I'd say I'm used to it," the forward recently told Sky Sports' Essential EFL podcast.

"(Its) quite attacking, which is always good for a striker and an attacking player, so I thought that just suited me and, as I've said, the conversations with the manager were good."

And, during the first month of his spell with City, Gelhardt has been one of Selles' most consistent performers, with his versatility a useful chink in the Spaniard's armour, which saw him feature on both flanks against Norwich City last weekend, causing Canaries left-back, Lucien Mahovo, in particular, all kinds of problems in the first half.

Gelhardt only has one goal to his name thus far for his efforts, but a spectacular lob over QPR's Paul Nardi from distance on his home debut was a sign of his newfound confidence, which has only increased each passing game, meaning that, come the end of the season, the England youth international will hope to have had a big influence on Hull's survival bid which continues this weekend against a familiar outfit from his perspective.

Gelhardt will hope to haunt Sunderland and aid Leeds United

Gelhardt's previous source of regular minutes at this level came with Sunderland under Tony Mowbray in the second half of the 2022/23 season, as the North East club earned a play-off spot just 12 months after rising from League One following years in the doldrums.

The Liverpudlian would slot straight into an energetic and youthful side which contained the likes of Amad Diallo, who has since gone on to become a regular for Manchester United.

After featuring sporadically for Leeds in the first half of the campaign under Jesse Marsch, Gelhardt started 16 of his 18 appearances in red and white, registering three goals and three assists, with one of those strikes again coming against Hull during an enthralling 4-4 draw at the Stadium of Light.

But, the upcoming clash between the two sides presents the versatile frontman with an opportunity to do the polar opposite and play his part in a major turn up for the books, which isn't beyond the realms of possibility as Hull have recently taken four points against Sheffield United and Leeds United, and will look to give a much stronger account of themselves on the road than what they displayed against Burnley at Turf Moor on February 12th.

After starting both of the Mackems' play-off semi-finals against Luton Town in May 2023, the attacker had been linked with plenty of moves away on a loan basis, with his contract at Elland Road expiring in the summer of 2027.

Since then, it has looked increasingly unlikely that Gelhardt will see out the full length of said deal, especially if Leeds' two-year absence from the Premier League is ended in the final two-and-a-half months of the campaign.

In the meantime, the forward has started to put himself in the shop window - whether that sees him return to Hull permanently or move elsewhere remains to be seen - and United supporters will no doubt be giving Gelhardt plenty of encouragement heading into what could be a season-defining weekend at the top of the second tier, as well as having major ramifications on the relegation scrap.