'One hand on their throat' - Mick McCarthy delivers verdict on Leeds after Ipswich win

By Danny Wright

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy believes that Leeds United were lucky to walk away with all three points at Elland Road on Saturday.

The Whites battled to a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Suffolk club thanks to goals from Pierre Michel-Lasogga and Kalvin Phillips before a Bartosz Bialkowski own goal proved to be the difference and hand Thomas Christiansen's side the three points.

David McGoldrick and Joe Garner were both on target for the Tractor Boys against a Leeds defence that was missing star centre-back Pontus Jansson.

McCarthy now reckons that Leeds will be counting their lucky stars after he felt his team had a stranglehold on proceedings, something which he made no secret of being delighted with after the fixture.

“I am disappointed with the result,” said McCarthy, as quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post. “I’m even more disappointed because of how well we played.

“They were poor goals to concede, but I thought we were terrific. I thought that in the second half we had one hand on their throat, we just couldn’t turn it into another goal.

“Character is always there in abundance, but we showed a lot of quality today. They (Leeds) know they have dodged a bullet there.”

Leeds are still level on points at the top of the Championship table after Wolves and Cardiff won their respective fixtures, however the Whites' goal difference is far superior to their rivals' after nine games played.

Cardiff lie in wait next for Christiansen and his men, who travel to South Wales on Tuesday night in what already looks like an important game in terms of the promotion battle.

It may be early days but the top three are all four points clear of the chasing pack and pulling away as soon as possible is something that could be extremely helpful in terms of trying to get back into the Premier League.

After the visit to Cardiff, a journey to Sheffield Wednesday is next on the Whites' calendar in what is a tricky run of fixtures that will surely test the mettle of this side.

In other Leeds United news, supporters have raved about this "outstanding" midfielder after the win against Ipswich.

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