Leeds United were beaten 3-1 by Leicester City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Leeds players – including Kalvin Phillips and goalscorer Pablo Hernandez – celebrate against Leicester City
Leeds United boss Thomas Christiansen has told BBC Radio Leeds that he was worried about Kalvin Phillips picking up a yellow card against Leicester City on Tuesday night.
After bouncing back from four defeats in five Championship games with a 3-0 win at Bristol City on Saturday afternoon, it was back to Carabao Cup action for Leeds on Tuesday, as they travelled to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City.
Leeds went in front on 26 minutes as Pablo Hernandez hit a superb opener, before Leicester quickly hit back through Kelechi Iheanacho’s equaliser just four minutes later.
Cardiff’s Kenneth Zohore (l) and Sol Bamba (r) combine to thwart Kalvin Phillips of Leeds
Whilst Leeds managed to fend off the Foxes for the majority of the game, Islam Slimani put Michael Appleton’s men in front on 71 minutes, before fellow Algerian international Riyad Mahrez sealed the win with two minutes to play.
Leeds put up a strong fight but just came up short against a recent Premier League champion, meaning manager Thomas Christiansen will take the positives out of the performance ahead of a quick turnaround.
Leeds take on Sheffield United in the Championship on Friday night, and with limited rest for the Whites, Christiansen rotated some of his side, with the likes of Conor Shaughnessy, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Mateusz Klich, Jay-Roy Grot and Pawel Cibicki all starting.
One player who kept his place from the side which beat Bristol City 3-0 was midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who started in midfield and played another 72 minutes before being replaced by Ronaldo Vieira – despite concerns over his yellow card situation.
Phillips has picked up four yellow cards this season, and one more against Leicester would have handed him a one-game ban, missing the Sheffield United game in what would have been a huge blow.
The midfielder was on his best behaviour though, and manager Christiansen told BBC Radio Leeds after the game that he was worried about Phillips getting another yellow card, calling the situation one of the biggest problems in the game from a Leeds perspective, as they didn’t want him to get booked again – but he came through the game well as Christiansen praised his side for their performance.
“It was important that Kalvin didn’t see any yellow cards,” said Christiansen. “This was one of the biggest problems or issues that I had in the game, but he passed the game very well, and everyone made what I expect them to do. But again, it’s the difference between one strong team in the Premier League and our team, but we tried to perform in our way, the way he want to play, and had a very good first half.”
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