Garry Monk admits that he is proud to see his Leeds United showed the values they possess against a good Derby County team on Friday night at Elland Road, after recording a 1-0 win.
Chris Wood struck on the stroke of half time to give Leeds a deserved lead going into the break and the goal was good enough to earn the home side three more points.
However, the 1-0 scoreline didn’t justify the kind of chances Leeds created as they could have easily put the game to bed before half time, players such as Kyle Bartley and Ronaldo Vieira missing golden opportunities to be on the scoresheet throughout the game.
Derby boss Steve McClaren conceded after the game that the Yorkshire giants deserved the win and Monk admits that he is proud of the performance his team put up at Elland Road.
He admits that he challenged his Leeds players to stick to their style of football against a strong Derby side and he is extremely pleased that they showed what kind of team they can be.
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The 37-year-old told BBC Radio Leeds: “I stand here really proud of that team tonight.
“There was lot of talk about where we are in the league, if we win this game we can create a gap, but I think the mentality that we have and the challenge that I put to the players, I wanted them to show tonight the value we hold really dear to ourselves and that was the battle.
“Of course we wanted the three points, but I wanted them to show against a good team like Derby in front of the cameras, in front of a packed stadium and that was really the challenge to the players.
“We showed exactly what we want to be and what we can be; there is still a long way to go, but those principles and values that we hold dear, came out tonight.”
Leeds moved up to third in the Championship for the time being and are just four points off Newcastle United in second, who have played a game fewer.
