Thomas Frank is expecting an ‘intense battle’ with Leeds United on Saturday afternoon.

The Whites sit seventh in the Premier League having taken eight points from their first five fixtures.

“I respect Leeds as a massive club; one of the biggest in England,” said Thomas during his pre-match press conference at Jersey Road.

“Jesse Marsch, together with his staff, have got a good start together.

“They look very intense. On numbers, they play with the biggest intensity. Their high-press numbers are the highest. It’s going to be a very intense battle, which we’re ready for and looking forward to. I think it’s going to be a good game to watch.

“They look very, very dangerous going forward with their front four. [Jack] Harrison has been really impressive. [Luis] Sinisterra as well. Let’s see if it’s [Patrick] Bamford and [Joe] Gelhardt who will play, we don’t know, but they look impressive going forward.”

Leeds secured their top flight survival with a 2-1 win at the Gtech Community Stadium on the final day of the 2021/22 season.

The Bees head coach said that he is happy with how his squad has progressed since that meeting in May.

“I think we have a stronger squad compared to back then.

“Josh Dasilva is back. We’ve added Aaron Hickey, Keane Lewis-Potter and [Mikkel] Damsgaard – three players who add something to the squad, whether you’re talking about the starting XI or the first 15.

“I think it’s been a good start. We’ve scored nine goals, which is a good amount of goals compared to the league average. We look like a threat when we go forward and that’s massively important if you want to win football matches. We need to keep that up.

“The last game was a step forward in terms of defending as a team; we gave very little away. It took a bit of a brilliance from a world-class player in [Wilfried] Zaha for them to score the goal. For me, it’s about keeping consistency in our performances.”