Leeds United defender Luke Ayling spoke of his pride for the Whites squad after fighting back to record a 3-3 draw at Aston Villa.

Ayling once again skippered Leeds in the absence of captain Liam Cooper, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side trailing 3-1 in the first half, before the comeback.

The Whites have now lost just once in the last four Premier League matches following the point at Villa Park and the 30-year-old gave his assessment of the game.

“We started the game quite well and then we conceded three sloppy goals where we were way too open,” said Ayling.

“We showed some great character to come back into it and I think that shows the spirit we have in the dressing room.

“It’s been a tough season so far, but it was great spirit to get back into it and get a good point because Aston Villa have signed some good players and they’re going to be a good team, so it’s a good point in the end.

“The goal we scored right before half time changed the game, if we’d have gone in at 3-1 it would’ve been a hard task to get back into it in the second half.

“We always try to win games and we’ll carry on playing how we’re playing and I thought we earned the point in the end.

“We played well in the second half, played in their half a lot more and stopped the counter-attacks, so a point was a good result.

“Now we’ve got another huge game against Everton, they’re on a tricky run of form, but it’s Frank Lampard’s first game in the league there, so the place will be rocking and it will be a good game.”