Expectations were high for the Yorkshire-based club coming into the 2021/22 season, having finished ninth in their first Premier League campaign in 16 years last term.
However, the Whites have got off to a poor start, failing to register their first win of the season and sitting 17th in the table with just three points after five games.
Former Leeds star Prutton has stressed the need for the Whites to prioritise avoiding relegation this season, while he is aware of talk of the team pushing for Europe on the back of their position last term.
Prutton pointed out how Burnley have established themselves as a top flight club and explained that Leeds should focus on retaining their Premier League status at least in their first two seasons in the league.
“In previous seasons we have seen teams that have managed to get up there and look relatively secure and then had a bit of a flirt with the bottom“, Prutton wrote in his Yorkshire Evening Post column.
“Burnley are one that sticks out and look at what they have done – consolidated at the top level and managed to be an example.
“They are a club that you have to respect because of how their manager has set them up to survive in the Premier League.
“After last season, there was always going to be talk from the more fanciful people of pushing on into Europe and then the Champions League.
“But, in the first couple of seasons, you make sure that the next season is boxed off and the hard work for that is right here and right now.“
With 33 games still to go in the season, Leeds will be positive that they can turn things around and claw their way up the league table soon.
