Leeds United came out on top when they faced Rotherham United on Monday.
Paul Warne has told BBC Radio Sheffield that Leeds United boss Garry Monk told him after their meeting on Monday that Rotherham did not deserve to lose 3-0, before the Millers caretaker made a bold claim about the quality of his own squad.
On paper, the clash at Elland Road perhaps seemed to be something of a formality. Rotherham remain bottom of the table while the Whites were inside the Championship play-off places and had not lost to any team outside of the division’s top two since October.
Rotherham United manager Paul Warne before the Leeds game
And while the scoreline suggests that it was as comfortable as many expected it would be, the game proved to be extremely hard work for Leeds as the deadlock was not broken until the second-half.
And following the defeat, Warne explained that Monk had sympathy for him at full-time, and outlined just how much confidence he has in his squad.
“When I go and speak to their manager after, he said to me on the side of the pitch when it ended, ‘you didn’t deserve that, especially from your first-half display, you didn’t’,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“I honestly believe that any one of my players could get in their team.”
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
Whether Warne truly believes his suggestion about their respective squads or not, it is hardly surprising that he has made such a statement after the loss.
The morale amongst the Rotherham squad would have been boosted after their first-half display at Elland Road, which would have made the defeat particularly crushing, and he needs to find a way to pick them back up.
But Monk may now be determined to ensure that his Leeds squad go on to achieve something this season that proves that the gulf in quality between the two squads could not be bigger.
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