Former Leeds United trialist and ex-Australia international Ned Zelic feels it is a shame that the Whites failed to secure a berth in the playoff final at Wembley and believes silly mistakes cost them their tie against Derby County.
The Whites were handed a crushing 4-2 defeat during the second leg of the promotion playoff semi-final against Derby at Elland Road on Wednesday to put an end to their hopes of promotion.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men were let down by individual mistakes and were eventually reduced to 10-men in what worked out to be a highly-dramatic second leg at Elland Road.
Jack Marriott scored the winning goal in the dying embers of the game and Leeds were made to rue a performance that condemned them to another year in the second-tier.
And in the wake of their defeat to the Rams, Leeds were criticised by Zelic for losing a game they were in total control of, just before Kiko Casilla’s mix-up with Liam Cooper for the visitors’ opening goal.
The former Australia international, who had a trial with Leeds in the 1990s, admitted he feels bad for Bielsa and says the Whites paid the price for their silly mistakes which played into Derby’s hands on the night.
“What a shame Leeds won't be going to Wembley – were in total control of the game until Kiko Casilla lost the plot just before half-time”, Zelic wrote on Twitter.
“Silly mistakes cost them. Feel for Bielsa.”
Despite their defeat, Leeds received a vote of confidence from one of their former players in Lee Erwin, who went on to claim they were just unlucky to miss out on a ticket to the final.
Erwin, who is currently on the books at Tractor Sazi in Iran, also confidently insisted that Leeds will secure automatic promotion from the Championship next season.
“Leeds very unlucky. Automatic promotion next season 100 per cent”, Erwin claimed on Twitter.
Leeds are the first team to miss out on the Championship playoff final after winning the first leg away from home.
