Evans gets the bragging rights with derby win
LEEDS UNITED head coach Steve Evans revealed his pride in his troops as they stretched their unbeaten run to eight games and secured a spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the expense of his former club Rotherham.
Goals from debutant Mustapha Carayol and Souleymane Doukara ensured Leeds’ place in the hat for Monday night’s draw after edging an at times nervy Yorkshire derby, and Evans admitted he is now eyeing another home tie in the next round.
“The boys have worked really hard out there,” he said.
“We were still disappointed with parts of the performance but they’ve played very well, and it’s nice to be able to make some changes, leave a few out and still get over the line. It fills me with a lot of pride.
“I think a home tie in the next round now is the priority. You could get a couple of favourable ties from here and potentially be in the sixth round, but to get one of the giants of English football to Elland Road and there be 35,000 people here would be incredible.”
Carayol’s strike lit up what was a rather tepid opening half, the Middlesbrough loanee firing home a superb shot from the corner of the area right on half-time to nudge Evans’s side in front. They had several chances in the second half to kill the game off, but the likes of Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas spurned good openings.
However, Leeds eventually sealed the win when a defensive mix-up between Frazer Richardson and Lee Camp enabled Souleymane Doukara to tap into an empty net.
Millers manager Neil Redfearn said he had few issues with his side’s performance, but did rue a lack of cutting edge in his team’s play.
“It’s just the result which is frustrating.The performance was good,” he said.
“For the first half-hour we were the better side, I don’t think people can argue with that.
“It was a super strike from Carayol.To survive at this level you need that quality in the final third, and that strike was a fine example of that.
“We just didn’t have enough cutting edge in front of goal to get our noses in front during that first half.
“They got into the ascendancy and took the goal well, but we did give him too much space for the strike to go in.”
Redfearn also revealed he is hopeful of recruiting a midfielder in before Tuesday’s league game against high-flying Brighton.