Smith disappointed by board's stance

Leeds striker Alan Smith has admitted he is disappointed that the club’s new owners are not pulling out all the stops to keep him at Elland Road.

Smith reluctantly accepts that he will be sold should the debt-ridden club suffer relegation from the Premiership.

But the England forward has been at pains to stress that he has never suggested he would want to leave his hometown club if Leeds pull off a great escape.

And Smith clearly feels the current Gerald Krasner-led board, who revealed this week that they have brought in an agent to assist with player sales, are not trying as hard as they might to hold on to him.

Smith, Leeds’ most saleable asset, told Radio Aire: “The stuff that has come out is not necessarily true but I don’t like the way it has been done and it has come out in the Press, that’s what’s disappointing.

“When you go to a meeting and you are told they can’t offer you a new contract and can’t guarantee your future – if that’s moving heaven and earth for soeone they’ve got a different idea of it to me.”

Smith accepts he may now have to leave Elland Road but says he would do so with a heavy heart and would like to return some time in the future.

He said: “If we go down it is clear to everyone that the club is trying to get rid of players.

“Wherever I go, if I have to go, at the end of this season, hopefully I will still be able to come back to this club and it won’t be the last time I am seen in a Leeds shirt.

“The club have done a lot for me and I can’t be running off – but it is an important time in my career.

“I want people to know I have given my all week in, week out and if I have to walk away no-one can say I’ve not been trying. I’ve done my best for this club and I’m proud of myself.”