United's first team coach John Gannon has backed Tore Andre Flo to play a major role in the side's promotion push following his latest goalscoring return from injury. Flo came off the bench to seal victory over Port Vale at Elland Road on Tuesday night, hitting his third goal of an injury-ravaged spell which has seen him play just 260 minutes in total so far. But Gannon insists that a fully fit Flo will present a serious threat to the so far lethal strike partnership of Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol, who have hit 19 goals between them.
'He's obviously had problems but he's worked extremely hard,' said Gannon. He's a great professional and he doesn't need too many chances to take one. Everyone at the club's pleased that Tore's back involved. Dennis told me what a wonderful finisher he is, and you can see what he's capable of. When he gets his fitness back he's going to be a threat to the front two, and that's how we need it. I think he's got a major role to play. We need pressure in all areas of the pitch if we are going to be successful.'
The importance of victory over Port Vale was not lost on Flo. 'We needed to get back on track, and it was quite an important match for us to show that we could win. We've bounced back straight away and the lads are doing really well. It's 100 times more important to get back up to the Championship than it is to be in the third round of the FA Cup right now.'
