Leeds United boss Steve Evans believes the Elland Road faithful will welcome back Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with open arms when his Queens Park Rangers side visit the Yorkshire giants tonight.
A former Leeds United player, the Dutchman took charge of the London club in December and has managed to maintain QPR’s mid-table security by keeping them within touching distance of the Championship top ten.
While they are coming into tonight’s game against Leeds on the back of a home defeat to Middlesbrough, Evans feels Hasselbaink has done well to finally get a settled team at Loftus Road, despite a few bumpy results during his initial days at the club.
And the Leeds boss also feels that Dutchman will be very much welcome at Elland Road, as he is still fondly remembered by the Whites supporters for his goals and performances during the late 1990s for the club.
"I think arguably, you could say that at the very start, when he came into Queens Park Rangers, the run of results was against him", Evans told BBC Radio Leeds.
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"There were games lost by the odd goal, and they deserved, in some of those games that they lost, to win, very much like we have in recent times.
"I think in the last couple of weeks, he's been able to sort out the players that he wants to be playing, they've very much got a settled and regular side now, and we'll see a full strength QPR.
“In time, I think Jimmy will prove to be a great addition to Queens Park Rangers, and he's certainly very welcome at Elland Road of course, because he was such a big favourite scoring so many goals.”
A win tonight for Leeds will take them within one point of QPR and rejuvenate their fading top ten hopes.
