SAM’S HOPE IN ELL
Byram ‘gutted’ after admitting top-two place ‘now out of our hands’
LEEDS 0 BLACKBURN 1
PRESSURE is mounting on faltering Leeds’ automatic promotion bid as Sam Byram admitted: “It’s out of our hands now.”
Daniel Farke’s men had not lost at home all season until struggling Blackburn ransacked fortress Elland Road.
Sammie Szmodics’ 82nd-minute strike was a dagger through the heart of Leeds fans who fear their team is falling apart again.
It is now just one win in five for the third-placed Whites, who have never won promotion via the play-offs in five previous attempts.
Defender Byram admits they are desperate to secure a top-two finish, saying: “Everyone’s gutted because we know we had to win to put pressure on the other teams.
“The fans are obviously as disappointed as we are, but we’ve got to keep going.
“There are three games left and all we can do is try and win them all.
“We’re not out of it yet, although we’re relying on other teams to drop points.
“Everyone at the club has the same goal and with that brings pressure. But we’ve got a break now until the next game to get some work done on the training pitch on some areas we need to improve on to get some goals.”
Blackburn won for only the second time since John Eustace took charge in February after Szmodics’ superb right-foot shot (below) beat Illan Meslier.
Worryingly, Leeds drew a blank for the second successive home game and in the end they simply ran out of ideas.
Byram conceded: “The last few games we’ve not been good enough and we’ve got to hold our hands up for that.
“We only put it right by getting three points in the next game.
“Blackburn have come here with a plan, as you could see from the start of the game, to waste time. They’re a difficult team to break down when they’ve got that many people behind the ball.
“They’re obviously desperate for points themselves to stay in the league.
“We know at this stage of the season that games are going to be like this.”
Goodness knows where Rovers would be without goalmachine Szmodics, who became the first Blackburn player to hit 30 in a season since Alan Shearer in 1995-96.
Ewood Park legend Shearer sent Szmodics a video on social media afterwards, saying: “Hi Sammi, Alan Shearer here. I’ve just seen you’ve got another one. Thirty, eh? Congratulations mate, keep up the great work.”