Leeds United came back from behind to draw away at Cardiff City in the Emirates FA Cup third round match on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts were two goals ahead at the interval but Jesse Marsch’s side turned it around in the second half and rescued a stoppage team equaliser, courtesy of Sonny Perkins scoring his first senior goal for the club.
The Whites will now face the Bluebirds at Elland Road in a replay later this month and the head coach gave his thoughts on the game and was also quick to praise the 6,000 travelling supporters at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Marsch said: “I have to thank our fans.
“Because I think without them being behind the goal where we were pushing and having so many of them, having their energy to stay in the match, I don't think we get ourselves back in.
“So I think the fans deserve a lot of credit and we'll need that again back at Elland Road.
“Obviously, we know there's an opportunity with the draw and everything that is laid out in front of us.
“But if we learned one thing, it's that if you don't show up and you're not ready to play from the beginning, you cause yourself problems.
“I think as always, you see the heart that we show and I think eagerness to capitalise on the opportunity that's at hand when we get back to Elland Road.”
With the match changing in the second half, Marsch also praised the players who came off the bench to impact on the match, as both Rodrigo and Perkins scored.
“I think they inserted themselves in the match in exactly the way I hoped that they would,” he stated.
“I thought Cody [Drameh] played brave and tried to be an attacker.
“Max [Wober], for a young player, he's very mature, he's a leader. He absolutely helped calm things down and helped make the right decisions to bring us back into the game.
“And then yeah, I think also Rodrigo we know is a big player for us.
“I think he's [Perkins] developed incredibly well over the last two to three weeks. Frankly, when we put him on the bench we were saying he's one of the guys that can get a goal, and so that part was great.”