WE'RE UNITED AGAIN
Boss Blackwell hails his troops
Yorkshire Evening Post
By PAUL DEWS
LEEDS UNITED boss Kevin Blackwell hailed a great "team effort" on and off the field after his side took a massive stride towards the end-of-the-season play-offs.
Blackwell's troops were only denied victory against champions Reading at Elland Road on Saturday by a controversial late equaliser – but the United fans responded to the manager's calls for unity and he was delighted with the togetherness on display.
"I was pleased and proud of the players on Saturday," said Blackwell. "And I was thankful to the fans for their support. It makes such a difference when we are all together like that. It really does. It's a massive difference from this time last week. We may not have won, but we didn't lose and look a hard side to beat. Reading are the best side in this league by a country mile and they played their strongest team because they felt it would be a good test for next season. If it wasn't for the linesman we would have fared better result-wise, but I said thank you to the lads afterwards. We're back."
Rob Hulse ended United's near seven-hour goal drought when he fired Leeds ahead against the champions – but Stephen Hunt grabbed a fortuitous leveller to secure the visitors a 1-1 draw.
The final result was enough to secure Sheffield United's promotion to the Premiership and ensure Leeds' only route out of the Championship is via the play-offs – the Blades entertain United tomorrow night now knowing they cannot be caught – but Blackwell was quick to hail the confidence- boosting performance against Reading.
"We showed people on Saturday that we are back," insisted the Leeds boss. "We've had ups and downs. We haven't got carried away by the ups and we haven't got carried away by the downs. We are starting to get in good shape and that was everybody back together again. We were four minutes away from a fabulous result, but I'd like to thank everyone for what they did on Saturday. The only disappointment was their goal. It was an injury to a bit of pride. Reading striker Dave Kitson was stood in an offside position when the cross was delivered for the late equaliser, but referee Mark Halsey said he wasn't interfering with play, despite the fact he got the penultimate touch on the ball, inside the six-yard box.
"The linesman let us down," said Blackwell. "I felt there was an offside in there – I don't know how he's not interfering with play when he is the eyeline of my goalkeeper and my centre-back, but there you go. I'm not going to complain because we played against the runaway champions, we matched them in every department, and had them hanging on."
One surprise on Saturday was the return of Eirik Bakke – the Norwegian made his fourth start of the season after the late withdrawal of Robbie Blake (flu). Blackwell was critical of Bakke after his last outing – away at Leicester in February – but the Leeds boss has thrown the gauntlet down to his Norwegian international to spearhead United's bid for play-off glory.
"I've asked questions of Eirik," said Blackwell. "I want things from him that are right and he showed that on Saturday."He's box-to-box, he got tackles in, he defended, he looked good on the ball and I was delighted with him. If he keeps playing like that he'll make it difficult for others. I want to see good energy and putting people under pressure, and forcing errors. I've thrown the gauntlet down to Eirik. I told him why he wasn't in, but he can be a threat and on Saturday he was back. Eirik is a top-class player capable of top-class performances – that's what I want from him."
Boss Blackwell hails his troops
Yorkshire Evening Post
By PAUL DEWS
LEEDS UNITED boss Kevin Blackwell hailed a great "team effort" on and off the field after his side took a massive stride towards the end-of-the-season play-offs.
Blackwell's troops were only denied victory against champions Reading at Elland Road on Saturday by a controversial late equaliser – but the United fans responded to the manager's calls for unity and he was delighted with the togetherness on display.
"I was pleased and proud of the players on Saturday," said Blackwell. "And I was thankful to the fans for their support. It makes such a difference when we are all together like that. It really does. It's a massive difference from this time last week. We may not have won, but we didn't lose and look a hard side to beat. Reading are the best side in this league by a country mile and they played their strongest team because they felt it would be a good test for next season. If it wasn't for the linesman we would have fared better result-wise, but I said thank you to the lads afterwards. We're back."
Rob Hulse ended United's near seven-hour goal drought when he fired Leeds ahead against the champions – but Stephen Hunt grabbed a fortuitous leveller to secure the visitors a 1-1 draw.
The final result was enough to secure Sheffield United's promotion to the Premiership and ensure Leeds' only route out of the Championship is via the play-offs – the Blades entertain United tomorrow night now knowing they cannot be caught – but Blackwell was quick to hail the confidence- boosting performance against Reading.
"We showed people on Saturday that we are back," insisted the Leeds boss. "We've had ups and downs. We haven't got carried away by the ups and we haven't got carried away by the downs. We are starting to get in good shape and that was everybody back together again. We were four minutes away from a fabulous result, but I'd like to thank everyone for what they did on Saturday. The only disappointment was their goal. It was an injury to a bit of pride. Reading striker Dave Kitson was stood in an offside position when the cross was delivered for the late equaliser, but referee Mark Halsey said he wasn't interfering with play, despite the fact he got the penultimate touch on the ball, inside the six-yard box.
"The linesman let us down," said Blackwell. "I felt there was an offside in there – I don't know how he's not interfering with play when he is the eyeline of my goalkeeper and my centre-back, but there you go. I'm not going to complain because we played against the runaway champions, we matched them in every department, and had them hanging on."
One surprise on Saturday was the return of Eirik Bakke – the Norwegian made his fourth start of the season after the late withdrawal of Robbie Blake (flu). Blackwell was critical of Bakke after his last outing – away at Leicester in February – but the Leeds boss has thrown the gauntlet down to his Norwegian international to spearhead United's bid for play-off glory.
"I've asked questions of Eirik," said Blackwell. "I want things from him that are right and he showed that on Saturday."He's box-to-box, he got tackles in, he defended, he looked good on the ball and I was delighted with him. If he keeps playing like that he'll make it difficult for others. I want to see good energy and putting people under pressure, and forcing errors. I've thrown the gauntlet down to Eirik. I told him why he wasn't in, but he can be a threat and on Saturday he was back. Eirik is a top-class player capable of top-class performances – that's what I want from him."