Yorkshire Post 30/4/11
Leeds United 1-0 Burnley - Grayson not giving up on play-offs
LEEDS UNITED’S fight for a play-off place will go the final weekend of the season after Ross McCormack’s first goal of the season was enough to beat Burnley.
The signing from Cardiff City struck on 33 minutes to settle an often fiery War of the Roses clash.
It means United will still have a chance of claiming sixth place next Saturday at QPR, even though Nottingham Forest kept a tight hold on their berth with a 5-1 thumping of relegated Scunthorpe.
Leeds manager Simon Grayson will not accept his side’s play-off challenge is over until it is mathematically impossible while also alluding to champions QPR’s pending disciplinary hearing for allegedly breaking Football League rules over third-party player ownership, which could result in a points deduction.
He said: “We always had hope. We never stopped believing we can still achieve it because we know things can happen. One or two things might still happen over the next few weeks, but we had to do what we had to do and that’s win the game.
“The way that we played was really encouraging, really positive and now we just wait and see what happens.
“We had to make sure we are still in with a chance this time next week and we’ve done that, but for me the manner of the performance was very encouraging.
“The players will learn from the experience. We’ve had good times and bad times this year and if we get in the play-offs or we don’t we’ll learn from the experience and be better next year.”
McCormack, making only his fifth start of the season following his arrival last summer from Cardiff, finished in style following Bradley Johnson’s fine through-ball in the 33rd minute to send Burnley crashing to their first defeat in five matches.
Grayson added: “He’s had to be patient to be fair. When I bought him in the summer he would have thought he’d be one of the two strikers we would play in a 4-4-2.
“But he got injured, we changed the system and his opportunities have been few and far between.
“But testament to the lad. He’s kept working hard in training, he’s looked really sharp over the last few weeks and that’s why we played him today.
“His movement we thought would cause Burnley problems and it did and the bonus was he got his goal as well.”
Defeat for Burnley leaves them in eighth place, two adrift of Leeds going into the last day of the season next weekend, and manager Eddie Howe admitted his side’s play-off hopes had been dashed.
Howe, who felt his side should have been awarded a first-half penalty after Leeds defender Andy O’Brien appeared to have climbed on Chris Iwelumo’s back, was unhappy with his players’ performance as much as the result.
He said: “Yes disappointed with both. We started quite bright early on, I felt we should have had a penalty, but from then on Leeds closed us down very well and we gave the ball away an awful lot in our own half.
“The penalty was nailed on from where I was. If it had been at the other end it would have been given.”
Howe added: “But I think that’s it for us now, definitely. It’s out of our hands now and we’ve got to look to next year.
“It’s been a disappointing end to our season because we’ve been very close, but just not close enough.”
Leeds United 1-0 Burnley - Grayson not giving up on play-offs
LEEDS UNITED’S fight for a play-off place will go the final weekend of the season after Ross McCormack’s first goal of the season was enough to beat Burnley.
The signing from Cardiff City struck on 33 minutes to settle an often fiery War of the Roses clash.
It means United will still have a chance of claiming sixth place next Saturday at QPR, even though Nottingham Forest kept a tight hold on their berth with a 5-1 thumping of relegated Scunthorpe.
Leeds manager Simon Grayson will not accept his side’s play-off challenge is over until it is mathematically impossible while also alluding to champions QPR’s pending disciplinary hearing for allegedly breaking Football League rules over third-party player ownership, which could result in a points deduction.
He said: “We always had hope. We never stopped believing we can still achieve it because we know things can happen. One or two things might still happen over the next few weeks, but we had to do what we had to do and that’s win the game.
“The way that we played was really encouraging, really positive and now we just wait and see what happens.
“We had to make sure we are still in with a chance this time next week and we’ve done that, but for me the manner of the performance was very encouraging.
“The players will learn from the experience. We’ve had good times and bad times this year and if we get in the play-offs or we don’t we’ll learn from the experience and be better next year.”
McCormack, making only his fifth start of the season following his arrival last summer from Cardiff, finished in style following Bradley Johnson’s fine through-ball in the 33rd minute to send Burnley crashing to their first defeat in five matches.
Grayson added: “He’s had to be patient to be fair. When I bought him in the summer he would have thought he’d be one of the two strikers we would play in a 4-4-2.
“But he got injured, we changed the system and his opportunities have been few and far between.
“But testament to the lad. He’s kept working hard in training, he’s looked really sharp over the last few weeks and that’s why we played him today.
“His movement we thought would cause Burnley problems and it did and the bonus was he got his goal as well.”
Defeat for Burnley leaves them in eighth place, two adrift of Leeds going into the last day of the season next weekend, and manager Eddie Howe admitted his side’s play-off hopes had been dashed.
Howe, who felt his side should have been awarded a first-half penalty after Leeds defender Andy O’Brien appeared to have climbed on Chris Iwelumo’s back, was unhappy with his players’ performance as much as the result.
He said: “Yes disappointed with both. We started quite bright early on, I felt we should have had a penalty, but from then on Leeds closed us down very well and we gave the ball away an awful lot in our own half.
“The penalty was nailed on from where I was. If it had been at the other end it would have been given.”
Howe added: “But I think that’s it for us now, definitely. It’s out of our hands now and we’ve got to look to next year.
“It’s been a disappointing end to our season because we’ve been very close, but just not close enough.”
