Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones discuss Leeds United’s win over Middlesbrough.
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00:00Dan, looking at Leeds United and the run-in,
00:04obviously we mentioned the pressure at the very, very top
00:08of the Championship lately.
00:10They have won the game away at Middlesbrough,
00:12a massive win in the context of the Championship.
00:16But obviously the form going into it with three draws on the bounce,
00:19things, maybe questions are starting to be answered, obviously.
00:24QPR away a draw, Swansea at home, Luton away,
00:27teams that you probably should be winning if you're going to,
00:29you know, win the Championship.
00:31They want to obviously be champions.
00:32They don't want automatics.
00:34If they can avoid, obviously, the playoffs, they'll take automatic.
00:37But, you know, getting that Championship medal is so important
00:40for confidence and, you know, to look back on the season
00:43and really remember it well.
00:44You know, Burnley, Sheffield United,
00:46the race up there has been brilliant all season.
00:49Can lead to push away now, do you feel?
00:51What do you sort of take from this game away at Middlesbrough?
00:54How, you know, impressive was their win there
00:57and how important could it actually prove to be?
01:00In the race for the Premier League.
01:02Very important because after the weekend, you know,
01:05they were feeling quite down, quite dejected.
01:08Certainly things hadn't gone their way for a few weeks.
01:11They only won, I think, one and five up until this point.
01:15But then they go to the Riverside with a bit of low confidence.
01:19But then two minutes in, they take the lead through Dan James
01:21and everything suddenly seems rosy again.
01:24And not only that, obviously, they hang on to win the game.
01:26I'll come on to that in a moment.
01:27But the teams around them, drop points, you know, Sheffield United,
01:32they lost at home to Millwall, a huge result of that.
01:35And Burnley joined 0-0 away at lowly Derby County as well,
01:39which put Leeds from the way in third.
01:41And now they're back top again, albeit only on goal difference to Burnley.
01:44So the swings and roundabouts in the championship season,
01:47especially at the top at the moment, are quite unbelievable.
01:49You know, it's just interchanging constantly with teams, you know,
01:52dropping from maybe second to third or maybe third to first or whatnot.
01:55But it was a really, really important night for Leeds
01:58after what had been a few disappointing weeks draws
02:00against the likes of Queen's Park Rangers and Swansea City, for example,
02:04that had re-demoralised them a little bit.
02:06After such highs against Sunderland and Sheffield United,
02:08they then were brought back down to earth with quite a bit of a bum.
02:11And Portsmouth, you could add into that as well, the loss at Fratton Park.
02:15But the game itself, I think Leeds were very much good value
02:18for the win at Riverside.
02:19Middlesbrough certainly themselves would be disappointed
02:21that they didn't maybe get anything out of it.
02:23I mean, let's be honest, Leeds were the better side,
02:25but Middlesbrough, they had moments as well.
02:27They put pressure on Leeds, but Leeds, I think,
02:29was good value for it.
02:30And actually, despite Dan James' early goal,
02:32Leeds put the ball in the back of the net twice after that.
02:35Ayo Tanaka scoring and Patrick Bamford also putting it into the net.
02:38And both goals ruled out for offside.
02:42And, well, both of them on replays were shown to be onside.
02:47So it's tough to take for Leeds, that one,
02:50in terms of what was going on at the time.
02:52Probably made it a bit more nervous for them.
02:54But they hung on and they got the job done
02:57and they've gone back top.
02:58It's fantastic for them.
02:59But it's just for Borough, though, they're still in the playoffs,
03:02but, of course, they're on 60 points,
03:06but Coventry behind them, a game in hand
03:07and only a point behind as well.
03:09So for Borough, at least,
03:10not the best night they'll have had this season,
03:13but certainly there's lots to play for still for them.
03:15Yeah, let's just touch on Dan James.
03:17I mean, he's been in fantastic form,
03:19obviously away in the international break,
03:21scoring for Wales as well.
03:23Back-to-back goals now in this run-in.
03:25You know, so many assists this season,
03:28almost matching his tally throughout the campaign
03:32with 10 less games played.
03:34How important has he been for Leeds United this season?
03:36Obviously, 27 years of age, he's coming to his forefront
03:40and he's really helping their push towards the top flight.
03:43Well, you couldn't have picked a more valuable goal
03:45than the one he scored last night.
03:47And to be fair to Dan James,
03:48he's popped up with that type of goal all season.
03:52Really important ones at really important moments.
03:54Leeds have an abundance of attacking talent
03:57on the wings as well.
03:58And you'd think that Dan James might actually be out-favoured
04:01at times a little bit,
04:02but actually he's the one who at times pops up
04:05in the right place at the right time
04:06to score them crucial goals.
04:07And credit to him, it's helped them out
04:10on an awful lot of occasions,
04:12certainly this game against Middlesbrough too.
04:13So very much a huge part of Leeds United's promotion push.
04:18It's now just, can they maintain any form of consistency
04:21from now until the end of the season?
04:22Because that's what will get them over the line.
04:24The lack of consistency in the last few weeks
04:26saw them drop from first down to third.
04:28And they had a bit of a points gap at the top as well.
04:30And then they lost that and then they dropped to third.
04:32But now they're back top again,
04:34albeit only on goal difference.
04:35But that win against Middlesbrough
04:36will do their confidence the world of good
04:38after what has been a tough few weeks for them.
04:40But they've got to remain consistent
04:42because if they don't, then they'll drop down again.
04:44All right.
04:49All right.