LEEDS United head coach Marcelo Bielsa says his side face a difficult challenge when they travel to Middlesbrough in the Championship on Saturday.

The Whites are looking to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat to Norwich City last Saturday night, when they make the relatively short trip to the Riverside Stadium.

But the former Chile and Argentina head coach is expecting a tricky task against Tony Pulis' men, who themselves are looking to recover after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by League Two Newport County on Tuesday.

Bielsa also hopes to improve on the goalless draw between the two sides at Elland Road in August as Leeds look to return to the top of the Championship.

Speaking to the club's official website, Bielsa said: “If I had to choose which was the hardest game we’ve played so far, with frictions and the one that presented the most physical challenges, I would say it was the game against Middlesbrough and it will be the challenge in the coming game.

“We were not surprised by the way Middlesbrough played in the first game, we knew they were going to play this type of game and in the duel of styles, Middlesbrough won, because they didn’t play better than us or have the ball, but they had more chances to score than us.

“They prevented us from playing and being faithful to their method and were able to create chances to score against us.

“It was one of the few games this season that we deserved to lose, but we managed to draw.”

Adam Forshaw, Pablo Hernandez and Mateusz Klich are all injury doubts for Leeds for Saturday's clash.

Bielsa added: “Adam and Mateusz have a problem in the knee and Pablo has a problem with his groin, so we are not sure if they are going to play or not.”

“They are not serious injuries because they have the possibility to play and I never put a player who is in doubt on the pitch.

“I never push a player to play, I only put a player in the team if he is 100 per cent available to play.”