Leeds United train in Cyprus

ENGLISH football club Leeds United have flown to Cyprus for a team-bonding training break.
Manager Dennis Wise has said he will use the trip to work on his side’s defensive frailties after the fallen giants fell to a 10th home defeat of the season against West Brom on Saturday, leaving them second-bottom of the Championship table.

“I need them together,” said Wise. “I want them to live together, train together and just concentrate fully on football for four days. I think that’s important. We’ve got a good team spirit, but it’s always nice to bring it closer together.”

The club’s visit will give Wise a welcome opportunity to work with his new signings, six of whom have signed up at Elland Road on a permanent basis this month, and a friendly fixture with local side Ethnikos Achnas has been planned for Wednesday afternoon. The game is expected to kick off at 5pm local time.

Assistant boss Gus Poyet said: “The new players are settling in and getting to know each other, and this will help. We’re coming up to the last three months of a big season.”
It’s thought the team will be staying within the Dhekelia British Base area.
A Leeds United spokesman yesterday told the Mail that the camp did not want to be disturbed while on the island.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.