Roofe shares the tactical change that was key to his stunning Leeds display against Preston

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Published on:

08 Apr 2017, 2:23 pm

By Alex Stevens

Kemar Roofe has revealed that a tactical tweak from manager Garry Monk was key to his outstanding display in Leeds' 3-0 win over Preston on Saturday.

BBC pundit Noel Whelan hailed the attacking midfielder, 24, as "awesome" for his performance in the Championship triumph that cemented the club's place in the play-off spots.

Goals from Roofe, Pablo Hernandez and Souleymane Doukara secured the three points for Monk's team and enabled them to bounce back from consecutive league defeats.

Roofe explained how he was given licence by the coaching staff to roam freely rather than be used in a traditional right-flank role in Monk's 4-2-3-1 formation.

This enabled right-back Luke Ayling to hug the touchline and provide an outlet outside of the £3million former Oxford man.

"The formation and tactics we played today allowed me to drift around a lot more," explained Roofe in an interview with BBC Radio Leeds after the match. "Our tactics were a bit different today - more attacking, and I started out wide and was allowed to drift in more, with Ayling as a wide player.

"It allowed us more space inside and allowed us to pick up pockets. By the sounds of it, we've obviously done it correctly and done what the manager's wanted us to do.

"We have the players to hurt teams - when we have the ball, pass it around and are attacking, we're one of the best teams in the league. We're under no pressure because no one expected us to finish in this position, to be in the play offs."

The Yorkshire giants cemented their place at fifth position in the Championship table and lifted their points tally to 72 with five matches of their league campaign remaining.

Sheffield Wednesday's unexpected win against high-flying Newcastle later on Saturday evening demonstrated that the battle for the four play-off spots remains fiercely contested.

In other Leeds news, the club have sealed an out-of-window midfielder transfer.

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Kemar Roofe