Inside Leeds United's dressing room after Illan Meslier blunder and team-wide anger

Hiding was not an option for Daniel Farke after full-time on Friday night, much as he wanted solitude and silence in that painful aftermath. Leeds United’s last-gasp catastrophe at Sunderland left everyone feeling raw in the dressing room, but the manager could not allow that depression to linger for the next fortnight.

Many of his squad would be going their separate ways after the match and not reconvening for another 11 or 12 days in some cases, owing to the international break. While the despair was hard to wash away at the full-time whistle, Farke saw so much good over the 90 minutes, he had to make sure those positive messages were ringing in the players’ heads.

“I've said only the first words because my feeling after such an equaliser, when you got the feeling you've done everything right, [is] you just want to go in and don't want to speak with someone,” he said. “I would be poor in my job if I would do this.

“They need leadership. I can't leave them alone just because I want to hide myself as well. I have to be there and I have to go to the referee, I have to go to my lads, I have to give a hug to Illan, also in the dressing room to give the first messages so they judge the game and what we have done today in the right way.

“They are pretty young boys, some even just teenagers, and I can't send them away, some of them for two weeks, without talking about this and what we take out of this. I used some encouraging words and football, it's always like life.”

It has been a savage week for Leeds. Five points from an available nine across six days, including two lengthy weeknight away trips, is a good return. However, the scarcely believable back-to-back knee injuries for Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev, before Illan Meslier’s gaffe, could only provoke a philosophical outlook from Farke for the players.

“When you got the feeling, right now, everything that can go unlucky against you is there and then you think ‘Okay, there's a turning point, you deserve it’ then there's another sucker punch, and you have to keep going,” he said. “Don't lose the trust, don't lose the belief and don't lose your good heart.

“Stay together and keep going, keep moving forward. Then there is something in the end that luck comes back. The season is also like a marathon. We have not one point in the season, [that was] lucky, but we have lost already so many points [that were] unlucky.

“Sometimes it happens out of reason and there is a game when you need it, perhaps even a bit more, and there is perhaps something to cheer about come next May. This is also what we're trying to do with these lads.”

The supporters drew the majority of Farke’s sympathy on Wearside. After 550 road miles covering this week’s two away games, he felt the least they deserved was the win on Friday night.

“I feel most for our supporters today because they were excellent again,” he said. “After such a difficult week for them, they would have deserved today to celebrate and enjoy the weekend after so much travelling.

“I really feel for them, but I hope, after the dust has settled, they still can enjoy the weekend a bit and hopefully they are also proud of what the lads did today. With so many young lads in this travelling squad, they should be proud today.

“Perhaps one or two beers to kill the frustration, then hopefully also a few drinks to enjoy what the lads have delivered today because, overall, it was an excellent performance and we can be quite confident moving forward.”

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