The non-league side knocked Leeds out of the FA Cup this afternoon.
Leeds United have been knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league opposition, with Sutton United defeating them 1-0 this afternoon.
But after the game much of the blame was laid at the door of Leeds head coach Garry Monk. He decided to rest several key players for the game. He handed starts to the likes of Tyler Denton, Paul McKay, and Billy Whitehouse and they failed to deal with the threat of National League side Sutton.
Sutton United’s Jamie Collins celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates
The weakened team certainly handed a boost to the Sutton players.
After the game James Collins, who scored the winning goal for Sutton, admitted to the BBC that the team-sheet gave them a boost:
“When we saw their team, we fancied our chances. It’s crazy – we have a lot of fans here, and all our family, so it’s special.”
He was not alone. Sutton defender Dan Spence also admitted that Leeds’ decision to put out a weaker side gave the home side a psychological boost prior to kick-off:
Sutton United’s Jamie Collins celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates
“We came here as underdogs but we thought we had a chance when we saw their weakened team. It took a penalty at the end to win it but we could have tucked away a couple more.”
Leeds played Nottingham Forest in midweek and have had a long League Cup run to contend with as well this season.
Monk is clearly concerned of burning out his regular starters but would have felt the team he put out today was good enough to beat Sutton.
But that little bit of extra encouragement when seeing a weakened side may have proved Monk’s and Leeds’ undoing.
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