Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has admitted that he made a “mistake” taking Sam Byram off during the Yorkshire club’s 4-0 defeat to QPR last week.
2024 has been a great year for Leeds but over recent weeks, things have began to fall apart as the Championship outfit pushed for Premier League automatic promotion. The Yorkshire club have won just one of their last five matches and it looks like they will need to go through the play offs if they want to return to England’s top flight.
Heading into the final day of the season, Leeds need to win against fourth-placed Southampton and hope Huddersfield do the unlikely by beating Ipswich.
Last time out was devasting for Leeds’ season as they were hammered 4-0 by QPR. Speaking to the press on Thursday, Farke has admitted that he made a mistake in the game at Loftus Road as he regrets taking off Sam Byram for Mateo Joseph in the second half.
“Second half, two set-pieces and the game was done. Critical with myself because I took Byram off at 2-0 and this was a mistake. I thought at this moment, second game in four days, we know his injury CV,” the German coach said via Leeds United News.
“We wanted an offensive player on like Mateo Joseph. What happened? We concede a third where Byram would normally be at the set-piece. This is where Mateo was involved. Fourth where Byram would be too.”
Play offs will be tough for Leeds United
Barring any miracle on the final day of the Championship, Leeds will need to go through the play offs to return to the Premier League and that will not be an easy task.
The Yorkshire club will fight for promotion with Southampton, Norwich and either West Brom or Hull City.
Daniel Farke’s men will fancy their chances but given results over recent weeks, fans of the club will be worried as anything can happen when it comes to the Championship play off games.