Daniel Farke speaks of frustration after missed chances leave Leeds United having to settle for a draw with Coventry

Soft defending at a vital moment also played a part as the Whites were held to a 1-1 draw, which was a big disappointment on the back of their midweek defeat to Sunderland.

United seemed to suffer a hangover from that loss in the early stages as their play was again flat, but they grabbed hold of the contest before half-time and were camped in their opponents half after the break only to have a draw to show for their efforts – and they still remain 10 points behind second-placed Ipswich.

“We should have won, we did more than enough to win this game. To come out with just one point is very frustrating,” said manager Farke.

“We're all deeply disappointed. I want us to feel this. I don't want us to speak too much about the positives, just frustration.

“In this league when you win a point you always see many positive aspects because it's always valuable, but after this it just feels like two points dropped.

“We created more than enough to win two or three games. The amount of chances, not just the amount, the quality, was unbelievable. The header, one-v-one from five yards.

“Efficiency is also a quality you need to have. Normally when you create such an amount of chances, with this quality, you have to win this game. Sadly we didn't show enough, it's a quality we have to work on.”

Farke believes his players will be down after failing to win the last two games, but will be ready for a big test against Ipswich next Saturday.

He added: “I don't want to make them get their chins up, I want them to feel the disappointment, this helps them next time to feel more brutal, more greedy, more focused.

“I don't want to take this pain away, it's quite crucial.

“I will allow them to be down for two days and then we will go again.

“We were not too high after seven wins in a row at Elland Road. It's not also today we have to go to a funeral, we're still unbeaten at home. It's just frustrating. I want them to feel this and for the next game we'll be ready to go again.”

The pattern of play was quickly established with Coventry getting 10 men behind the ball to try to frustrate the home side. Georginio Rutter did manage a 20-yard shot that was blocked and Joel Piroe saw a shot easily saved, but Leeds initially struggled to make the most of their possession and promising positions.

Coventry briefly offered a threat as hesitant defending allowed Ben Sheaf to get a shot that needed to be well saved by Illan Meslier.

Two minutes later Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was found in the box only to shoot wide, but there was no further threat from the visitors for the rest of the half.

Rutter squandered a big chance for the Whites when Dan James got round the back of the City defence and sent in a low cross that his teammate somehow failed to connect with.

James later raced onto Ethan Ampadu's ball over the top and after being initially clipped outside the box went down after feeling a defender's hand on his shoulder in the area. Huge shouts for a penalty were waved away by referee Geoff Eltringham, who was booed off at the end of both halves and was the latest official to appear to be out of his depth at Elland Road.

Several scuffles broke out in the second half as Leeds players felt they were not properly protected by the official, who started throwing cards around towards the end after losing control of proceedings following his failure to produce bookings earlier in the game for obvious fouls and time wasting.

It was down to Leeds, however, that they did not win as they had enough chances in the final hour of the match to win three games.

Rutter produced a great turn only to fire just wide, Joe Rodon headed wide from seven yards out following a corner and Rutter was well played in by Summerville, but dragged his shot wide before the break.

In the second half it was almost all one-way traffic and after a build-up of pressure the Whites finally went ahead as Rutter played Summerville through to score with a tidy angled finish.

A minute later Rutter shot over when a better option would have been to have played in an unmarked Djed Spence.

James then raced in behind at pace, but his shot on the run flew out for a throw in. He produced another good run only to see his shot saved low down by Brad Collins.

Out of the blue Coventry scored when their only cross of note in the entire 90 minutes was headed in by defender Bobby Thomas who had continued his run into the box after bringing the ball out from the back. It was poor defending from the hosts as they had two to one in the area and keeper Meslier could have come for the looping ball in.

It was soon back to Leeds domination, but Summerville's shot was beaten away by the keeper and the follow-up was blazed over by Piroe.

Rutter then saw two fine efforts saved in quick succession as Collins proved hard to beat in goals.

Rutter's off day in front of goal continued late on as he lashed a shot just wide and in added time two big chances were wasted to win the game.

Summerville's terrific cross was headed wide by Rodon then James was clean through only to shoot wide with only the keeper to beat. It was that kind of day.

Leeds United 1

(Summerville 58)

Coventry City 1

(Thomas 66)

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Attendance: 36,700

Leeds: Meslier; Gray, Rodon, Struijk, Spence (Gnonto 78); Ampadu, Kamara (Bamford 78); James, Piroe (Gelhardt 85), Summerville; Rutter.

Coventry: Collins; van Ewijk (Allen 78), Thomas, Kitching, Bidwell (Wright 67); Sakamoto (O'Hare 67), Latibeaudiere, Sheaf, Dasilva; Eccles; Simms (Palmer 78).

Referee: Geoff Eltringham