PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM: WE DIDN’T HAVE AS MANY EFFORTS AS WE'D HAVE LIKED

PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM: WE DIDN’T HAVE AS MANY EFFORTS AS WE\'D HAVE LIKED

Head coach on Sunderland draw.

Leeds United head coach Paul Heckingbottom spoke exclusively to LUTV following Saturday’s draw with Sunderland.

Pablo Hernandez’s effort cancelled out Paddy McNair’s opener against the Sky Bet Championship strugglers to secure the Whites a point.

United’s head coach felt his side once again needed to be more clinical in front of goal.

“The game had everything in it, but it wasn’t the result we wanted,” said Heckingbottom.

“Having gone behind, when we did make changes we were really going to open the game up, because of the players we had available and luckily for us it got us back in the game.

“Both teams had chances to score and we knew it was going to be like that, because at this stage of the season Sunderland were going to throw everything at us, it was like a cup final.

“We had moments in the game, but there was a little lack of quality or the wrong decision made in the final third.

“I thought that was the trend in the game and even when it opened up, we didn’t have as many efforts on goal as we would have liked, simply because of the final pass or the reluctance to get a shot away.

“The hardest thing in the game is to put the ball in the back of the net and we needed to get more bodies in the box.”

Young defender Paudie O’Connor was handed his Leeds debut in the match and Heckingbottom spoke about his display.

He said: “Paudie did okay and we exposed him a little bit more than we would have liked.

“It was a big ask for him, he stood up to it well, Paudie is a good character and he will be better for the experience.”

The Whites finished the game with ten men after Gaetano Berardi was shown a straight red card late on for a dangerous tackle and the Leeds head coach also had his say on the matter.

“I’ve not seen the incident, but I have pulled him on it and questioned if he had lost his head.

“He said he had genuinely gone for the ball, but it was a bad tackle and he did catch him.”

You can see the full interview with Paul Heckingbottom below:

INTERVIEW | HECKINGBOTTOM | POST SUNDERLAND

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