Jeonnam Dragons' Leonard Pllana: "It's up to me to perform well and score goals"

After two straight wins Jeonnam Dragons are looking up and striker Leonard Pllana says the good atmosphere will help them prepare for Seongnam FC in Round 6 of the Hana 1Q K League 2 this weekend. The Kosovo international also says that it is up to him to perform well and score goals for the Dragons.

After a disastrous 2022 season which saw Jeonnam Dragons go on a 20-match winless run and finish bottom of K League 2, it was imperative that the team started 2023 in the best possible way.

The Dragons, though, began the new campaign with two defeats but have since been able to find form and welcome Seongnam FC to Gwangyang Football Stadium this Saturday on the back of two straight wins. Striker Leonard Pllana speaks highly of the feeling around the club at the moment.

"We have a good atmosphere in the team now, and now we gonna prepare for Seongnam. They are a good team also. I think they win the last game also so we are gonna be ready on Saturday, we are gonna prepare very well."

Pllana says preparations have already begun but he prefers to focus more on himself, rather than doing too much homework on the opposition:

"I think we're gonna I think [Wednesday] or [Thursday], we are gonna start checking the video and analyze that game and then train on the pitch and then we gonna be ready for that game. Before the game, and I focus only on myself more, you know, to make like good performance, I don't put so much focus on the opponent, a defender or something. Of course, I just see [the opponent] like when we prepared with the team, what they are good at and this but I focus more on myself, you know, and it's up to me to do a good game and to score goals."

Pllana joined Jeonnam Dragons prior to the 2022 season. Fans had returned to the stands but not fully and not without restrictions on chanting and cheering but now, he says, it feels very different:

"It's very good when you have fans in the stadium, you know, because football without fans is like, it's not the same, you know? And it's very good for football here in K League to have fans and it's very good now that there are no instructions and the people can move freely, you know? It's a very big difference, you know?"

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Listen to the full interview on this week's K League United Podcast