Interview with Wilfried Gnonto: Leeds United winger reflects on personal growth and the Championship promotion battle

The Championship season is once again gearing up to be fiercely competitive at the top.

Wilfried Gnonto, however, wishes it wasn't.

"I hoped to have just a battle with ourselves, maybe with 15 points," the Leeds United winger, with a huge smile, tells .

"But we know it's not possible. This league is always so competitive."

It feels like Gnonto has been around for so long already, that it is easy to overlook he has just turned 21.

The same happens to him, on occasion.

"I think I forget it too sometimes!" he says. "I've been a professional now for five or six years.

"I'm not really patient. I want everything now, you know.

"But, at the same time, I have to understand there is a process. I have to be consistent every day, and hopefully it's going to get me and the team to where we want to be."

It is that understanding where you see the maturity that has grown within him, particularly after the time it took him to work his way back into the side - and the Leeds' fans affections - last season. Signing a new long-term contract in the summer certainly helped his cause.

"I feel like I've experienced nearly every situation in football already," he says.

"The way I think and the way I am, I'm maybe a bit more mature than a normal 21-year-old guy.

"But I'm also still trying to learn every day, from the people here who have a lot more experience than me.

"I've been working in order to improve myself, and to try and help the team.

"I'm happy with where I am, but I know I still have lots to give."

With the experience he has picked up, there is one key lesson he has learned.

"'Always do more'," Gnonto says. "I've seen players who have more experience than me, who have played at World Cups, and they always, every day, are doing more and working hard.

"I still have a long way to go, but I still want to be an example for young players coming into the first team.

"If you ever speak to them, I want them to say the same things about me."

Playing in the Championship may have initially felt like a step backwards after early rave reviews in the Premier League and earning caps for Italy.

But it is the understanding of the process, and that progression is not always linear in football, that should take Gnonto a long way.

He is now mature enough to know that his journey has still only really just begun.

"I wouldn't say I'm edging close to where I want to be, being only 21!" he says. "But I'm working to try my best, to give my best every day and to be the best player I can be.

"I've been fit for every game and I'm really happy with where I am physically. I think I could have contributed more [goals and assists] but I know I still have more to give.

"I feel like you can see a difference in the way I started this season and the way I'm playing now.

"I'm trying to play with more freedom, and the manager has given me that freedom to play. It's up to me now to give something back and help the team."

The main thing he can do to help the team is to go one better than last season and take Leeds United back to the Premier League.

"It's the goal, of course," he says. "But we still have a long way to go and we're not really thinking about it now.

"We were so close last year, but we are hoping for a different ending this season. I feel we've learned our lessons from how it ended last season.

"For me I just want to be at my best, stay as fit as I can, and score and assist as many goals as I can. Just help the team in every way I can."