Sky 14/5/09
Grayson proud of Leeds
Players and fans should be proud, says manager
Leeds manager Simon Grayson believes that his players should be proud of themselves despite missing out on a spot in the League One play-off final.
Grayson's side could only manage a 1-1 draw with Millwall in front of a partisan crowd at Elland Road, meaning the Lions progress 2-1 on aggregate.
But Grayson refused to criticise his team, saying that they did everything possible to turn around the one-goal deficit from the first-leg.
"You couldn't ask any more of the players tonight, they've put in a real performance," Grayson told Sky Sports post-match.
Credit
"We limited Millwall to very few chances, even probably just one chance all night. The players just kept going and we just couldn't get that second goal when we were certainly on top for the majority of the game.
"Full credit to Millwall, they've worked ever so hard against us and they've gone through but my players have got to be so proud of their performance today and I'm proud of the football club.
"When we first came to the club in December we looked like a team that probably weren't ever going to get anywhere near this (but) they've turned it around and they'll be stronger for tonight's performance and what they've done over the last three or four months."
Jermaine Beckford squandered a golden opportunity when he missed a penalty in the opening minutes of the second-half.
Response
Grayson praised Leeds for their response to the miss and revealed that he thought the result was in the bag when Luciano Becchio opened the scoring three minutes later.
"We've got the penalty and you think: 'Game on now we'll get it' and then we miss it," he added.
"We've responded well and got the goal and I genuinely believed that it was going to be us to go on and get the second.
"Full credit to Millwall, they defended well but we just couldn't get the breaks in front of goal that we probably deserved."

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