"Hard done by" - Leeds United star's Whites assessment, frank admission and Aston Villa game declaration
A Leeds United star has given his Whites assessment ahead of Sunday’s huge Premier League visit of Aston Villa.
Whites captain Ethan Ampadu says Leeds United must take a feeling of being “hard done by” on the chin with full belief that his side can bounce back against Aston Villa.
Leeds return to action after the November international break with Sunday afternoon’s hosting of Villa and approach the game sat in the Premier League dropzone after Saturday’s results.
Daniel Farke’s Whites had kicked six points clear of the dropzone through last month’s 2-1 win at home to West Ham United but very disappointing defeats at Brighton and Nottingham Forest have followed.
Leeds went 1-0 up in the clash at Forest through Lukas Nmecha but ultimately suffered a 3-1 defeat.
Writing in his captain’s column of Sunday’s matchday programme, Ampadu said Leeds felt particularly hard done by with the failure to award the Whites a free-kick for a foul on Anton Stach in the build-up.
Ampadu, though, admits his men must take the disappointment on the chin and says his side still have full belief in themselves ahead of the visit of Villa.
“Sometimes you have to take unfair decisions on the chin”
The captain wrote: “Against Nottingham Forest, we made a really solid start to the match and were pleased to take the early lead through Lukas Nmecha.
“Following this, though, we were really frustrated to concede so soon after as that turned the tide of the game.
“Naturally, we felt very hard done by with their second goal, but this is football and sometimes you have to take unfair decisions on the chin and hope they balance out over the season.
”There was naturally a lot of frustration in the dressing room, as we didn’t want to go into the break on the back of a defeat.
“Today, we know we are coming up against another great side in the top-flight in the form of Aston Villa.
“We know this game will be extremely difficult but we also still believe in ourselves, especially here at home.
“We go into the match as we do in every home game believing we can get a positive result and I hope we’re able to reward our loyalty.”