Stuart Dallas sends message to Leeds United players after Chelsea win

Leeds United stalwart Stuart Dallas believes Daniel Farke’s men have ‘set a platform’ for an improved run of form with their impressive home win against Premier League rivals Chelsea on Wednesday night.

The Whites produced a hardworking and positive second-half display in Saturday’s last-gasp defeat at Manchester City and appeared to show no ill-effects of Phil Foden’s heartbreaking late winning goal as showed plenty of energy and intensity during the opening stages of their Elland Road meeting with Chelsea.

Their rewards came with first-half goals from summer signing Jaka Bijol and Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka that put the Whites firmly in control when the half-time whistle was blown. There was some panic when Portugal international Pedro Neto halved the advantage just five minutes after the restart - but any concern was swept away when Dominic Calvert-Lewin punished an error from visitors keeper Robert Sanchez to ensure Leeds brought an end to a run of four games without a win.

The victory also took Farke’s side three points clear of the relegation zone - and former Elland Road favourite Dallas believes the performance and result have ‘set the bar’ for the Whites squad.

Confidence

The Whites stalwart told LUFCTV: “It is a huge result for them. I think you can tell by the reaction of the players and the fans what it means to everybody. We talked about confidence; this will give them huge confidence now going forward. I am delighted for everybody because I have been in the position myself when things aren’t going so well and you are in difficult moments. And you finally get a result.

“Now, this has to be, they have set the bar, they have set the platform with their second-half performance on Saturday and this performance tonight. They didn’t just win lucky tonight. They won comfortably. They were very, very good.”

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