Gaetano Berardi has say on what Leeds United need for successful promotion bid

CONFIDENCE BOOST: For Leeds United and defender Gaetano Berardi. Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images.

DEFENDER GAETANO Berardi says Leeds United will need to exude the extra confidence encouraged by Marcelo Bielsa to finally seal promotion come the new Championship campaign.

Leeds signed off from their pre-season friendlies with Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Italian Serie A side Cagliari Calcio in Sardinia with Kalvin Phillips shown a straight-red card for a full-blooded tackle on Simone Pinna with five minutes left.

United had earlier fallen behind to a Valter Birsa strike in the 14th minute but the Whites ensured they boarded the plane back to England with a positive result when Pablo Hernandez coolly dinked home a 50th-minute penalty awarded after Mateusz Klich had been clipped in the box.

Cagliari finished last season 15th in Serie A with top scorer Leonardo Pavoletti handed his first ever call up to the Italy national side in March and the 31-year-old proved a nuisance before being substituted at half-time.

Berardi, though, revealed that Whites head coach Bielsa had told Leeds they were a better team than the Italians with Berardi insisting confidence would be key for the forthcoming campaign.

United will begin their bid to erase the pain of last season’s agonising failure to seal promotion in six days’ time with Sunday’s clash at Bristol City.

“Cagliari are a good side but Marcelo told us that we are better than them,” Berardi told the YEP.