English League: Paul Butler smiles but there is a seriousness about the Leeds United captain as he outlines what he will demand from colleagues to return the club straight to the Premiership.
"We've got to go back to the days when Leeds were ugly as a team," the central defender says. "If it means fighting in tunnels, you've got to do it that way, don't you?"
Before the Football League rushes in CCTV for Leeds matches, it ought to note that Butler is not so much encouraging violence as setting a tone. Leeds may be starting a new chapter with a fresh squad, manager and captain but the feeling there is that old Elland Road traditions will be required to claw a way back to the top flight. Look out for a broader grin than usual on Billy Bremner's statue before today's game against Derby County.
If Butler sounds belligerent, he is talking from experience. The 31-year-old has won promotion with Sunderland and Wolves, whom he left this summer, and knows ability must be complemented by aggression.
Tuesday's trip to Gillingham promises to test Leeds's mettle. "I've been in this league a few times," Butler says, "and it's basically about going to places and grinding results out."
No wonder emphasis has been placed on fitness and team bonding. Go-karting, bowling and a dinner this week are among events used to unite a squad that includes 10 new signings and only five senior survivors of the summer purge. Morning and afternoon training has featured prominently in the programme designed by the manager Kevin Blackwell and his staff.
"We've done everything you can possibly do in pre-season, whether it's boxing, swimming, weights, running," says Butler. "I just hope we don't burn ourselves out. He (Blackwell) wants us to be so fit and I've never worked so hard in pre-season in my life.
"The gaffer's gearing us to last 95 minutes comfortably and hopefully the ability we've got will come through that little bit extra. Work-rate is what the First Division (Championship) is mostly about and we've got to wear teams down. After 60 or 70 minutes hopefully our fitness will do that and we'll come through. If we get an early goal, fantastic. But most wins in this league come in the last 20 minutes, so that's what the gaffer focuses on."
Blackwell, like Butler, is no stranger to this level. A former number two to Neil Warnock at Sheffield United, he has signed players he regards as hungry, having something to prove in the First Division (Matthew Spring, Clarke Carlisle) or a career to rejuvenate (Danny Cadamarteri, Michael Ricketts, Neil Sullivan).
Add a sprinkling of figures familiar with the task (Butler, Brian Deane, Jermaine Wright) and Leeds hope to have the appropriate blend.
Blackwell yesterday added Stephen Crainey to his squad, signing the defender from Southampton for 500,000.
Butler expects the team to play far more expansively at home than away - "you are going to see two different Leeds Uniteds" - but knows nothing will work without the correct attitude. If that seemed lacking at times last season, its importance has been drummed in this summer, not least by Sam Ellis, the head coach and former Bury manager.
"The mental part has to be right and that's why Sam Ellis has been brought to the club," Butler says. "On the mental side he's first class. He gives you a little talking-to and brings you back down to earth: 'All right, you're at Leeds United but you're on the same pitch as some of the lesser teams in the First Division and you have to earn their respect. You have to fight for everything because they'll give you nothing'."
Butler emphasises that everyone has to get over the "shock" of where Leeds are but, with few players carrying the baggage of last season's traumas, the mood seems upbeat. The captain says the squad attended a signing session at Elland Road that lasted four hours and believes fans realise players such as Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and Paul Robinson had to go. Though the financial crisis is not over, the past is blanked.
"We've had a chat about this," Butler says. "What's gone on in the past has gone on and it's nothing to do with us now. We're here to do a job, which is to get Leeds United back up. If people keep asking what's happening with the finances, well it's not our business. We're not paid to sort that out. We're paid to play for the club and that's what we're concentrating on. If we get our side sorted out, the other side will look after itself.
"When I signed for Leeds United, I didn't ask: 'Will my money be safe for the next two years?' I just want to play football and, with no disrespect to Wolves, I thought my best chance of getting back in the Premiership was with Leeds.
"You can put a microphone in the dressing-room and listen and (the off-field business) is not mentioned once. We just want to move on. We've been promised it won't happen again. We have to trust their judgment, and we do."
Butler accepts it will take time for the team to gel but has high expectations, even if the experiences of Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City - the club he supports - demonstrate that size is no guarantee against another drop.
He knows, too, that Leeds are the team everyone wants to beat.
"No disrespect to Leicester and Wolves, who also went down, but it was Leeds United who were in the Champions League three years ago, in the semi-final. We're a big scalp. If teams do turn us over it won't be because we're not trying. We'll be fighting right to the end."
Even in tunnels, perhaps.
