Good news for Leeds United squad amid Javi Gracia gospel truth bombs and refusal to sugarcoat

Anyone needing reassurance that the Premier League does not paint an accurate picture or reflect what it is that they deserve would need to look outside the Spaniard's team talks in preparation for Nottingham Forest.

What Gracia has been intent on dishing out to his players as they get ready for a week of almighty significance, is the truth.

When, for a second successive season, you find yourself too close for comfort to the drop zone then hearing it how it is and grounding yourself in reality is the healthiest of approaches. After defeat at Aston Villa Jesse Marsch said Leeds were not in a relegation battle. They were then just as much as they are now. That result left them 14th, but just two points clear of bottom three. As he spoke to the press on Tuesday, even with his seven-point haul from five games, Leeds sat 17th, only goal difference keeping them above the dreaded dotted line.

In truth all but a few Premier League clubs enter a season with the luxury of being able to say they're not in a relegation battle because that is the reality of how difficult the division is. Right now there are nine clubs scrambling to save their skin, seven points separating Southampton in 20th and Crystal Palace in 12th. Gracia looks at the table and sees no lies.

"I think we are where we deserve in this moment," said Gracia

"The table puts you in your place. If you want to improve your position you have to be better. We try to do it, to improve in every game, improve our situation."

Leading a team into a game like this, with only a couple of days to prepare since a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, is a difficult job but Gracia believes the best way to handle it is with a simple message and one that has to ring true. He's not blowing any smoke.

"I suppose my experience tells me when I have to be more hard, to handle the team in one way or another way," he said.

"I try to be clear, be honest with them. To tell them always the truth, I think that's the best way to help them and at the same time to achieve our objectives. They don't want someone to tell them something, and after say [contradictory] things about them. I try to be clear with them, strict at the same time and that's the best way to have a good relationship and at the same time to take from them their best."

The gospel truth, according to Gracia, is that while rest and physical recovery has its place in such a quick turnaround, there is no time to switch off mentally. Forest, at home, is the be all and end all.

"There is no time," he said.

"There is no time. We don't have enough time to do it. We play on Saturday, Tuesday. We don't have time, we don't have time. We are coming from the international break, where the players that stayed here with me enjoyed two days off and that was their moment. But now we focus on this, the most important moment of the season. There are 10 games left. You know, it's very fast and we have to be ready to give our best. There is no time for other things."

The good news for the Leeds squad, among the truth bombs from a manager who is by his own description 'obsessive' about achieving the objective of safety, is that he likes what he sees when he looks around the dressing room. He sees the same single-minded pursuit of Premier League status and an embodiment of the club's anthem, Marching on Together. That's what their all-in celebration of goals tells him. He also sees a group who stuck to the plan against Brighton, as difficult as it was to do so, and who he feels certain will again when Forest visit.

And though the injury situation is obviously 'not good' as he put it, when two of your most better performers like Willy Gnonto and Max Wober are doubtful, he believes in those putting their hands up for those vacancies.

"I try to give importance to all my players because I believe in all of them," he said.

"I didn't complain when I didn't have some players because I have other ones and all deserve to play and they are all waiting to show what they can do. Then for me, I have to choose 11 players, which is the most difficult part of my job. It's my responsibility. But then after that, I know how important the players are playing from the bench. Many, many times they make the difference and they have to feel it. We are not lying to them, we are not just telling them something they want to hear, that is something they can really feel. That's because I feel proud of the players I have and proud of what they are doing."

The truth is that this game against Forest is massive. This is now a relegation battle at the sharp end and Leeds are in it on merit. But Gracia says they can escape it and believes his players will not make a liar of him.

"It's an obsession in this moment trying to achieve our target," he added.

"And I think we are going to do it."