Leeds United must shrug off Souleymane Doukara loss

AS LEEDS United face up to Souleymane Doukara's season being as good as over following the striker's shock eight-game ban, head coach Steve Evans has a more pressing concern: namely, putting a halt to the 'promotion form' being shown by his former club Rotherham United.
Leeds United's Souleymane Doukara (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).Leeds United's Souleymane Doukara (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).
Leeds United's Souleymane Doukara (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).

The Scot will tomorrow make a first return to the New York Stadium since his sacking in late September for a derby clash that saw the final few tickets snapped up earlier this week.

He will have to make the trip without Doukara, following the Football Association’s decision to ban the French forward after finding him guilty of biting Fulham defender Fernando Amorebieta at Elland Road on February 23.

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Little was made of the second-half incident at the time, but Doukara was charged with violent conduct following a clash that left the Cottagers man writhing in agony. Amorebieta was later dismissed for two bookable offences.

Doukara denied the allegation, but yesterday the FA dished out a ban that will leave the United striker unavailable for all this season’s remaining fixtures bar the final-day trip to Preston North End.

The club’s only public reaction to yesterday’s bombshell was to say how it was “disappointed with the outcome and the length of the ban”. No further comment is expected until after Leeds officials receive the written judgment into the case.

For Evans, it is another unnecessary headache at the end of an international break when his future was the subject of intense speculation. The 4-1 derby defeat at home to Huddersfield Town was the catalyst for the latest suggestions, subsequently denied by owner Massimo Cellino, that Evans had been axed.

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Yesterday, the 53-year-old swatted away any enquiries over his job security before adding: “I am 100 per cent convinced that if we win matches, the president will make the decision I would like him to make.”

Victory over Rotherham would, of course, be a good step in that direction for Evans, who in a little over three years at the helm steered the Millers to back-to-back promotions. In his final season, he also kept Rotherham up in the Championship.

“I had three and a half years of the most wonderful times that any manager could wish to have,” said Evans about his time in South Yorkshire.

“I was supported by not only great staff and a great chairman, but by magnificent players.

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“The supporters were there in the days when it didn’t look as if we were going to get promoted from League Two. The same in League One, especially when 2-0 down at Wembley (in the 2014 play-off final) and it all looked a bit daunting.

“But we delivered and it will be an opportunity for myself and (assistant) Paul Raynor, just for a brief moment, to open our hearts and applaud the Rotherham people, who were fantastic to us as individuals.

“If I am back in South Yorkshire, I still get treated with the utmost respect by everyone there.

“I will arrive (tomorrow) as the very proud manager of Leeds United. I also want to leave on the team coach with all three points but, at 2.55pm or thereabouts, I will show my recognition to them. They are wonderful people.”

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It will not just be in the away dugout, of course, where there will be strong links between the two clubs in tomorrow’s derby clash. Both Millers’ manager Neil Warnock and assistant Kevin Blackwell have had their own spells in charge at Elland Road over the last dozen years, with Blackwell coming as close as anyone to taking United back into the Premier League when he led the club to the 2006 play-off final.

Since accepting the challenge of keeping Rotherham up, the duo have done sterling work.

A haul of 13 points from the last five games has taken the Millers from odds-on for the drop to fifth bottom.

It has been a remarkable turnaround, not least because of the calibre of sides beaten by the Millers during that recent run.

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Evans added: “Rotherham United have recently beaten Ipswich away, beaten Sheffield Wednesday away, beaten Middlesbrough at home and drawn with Derby after being 3-0 down (with seven minutes to go).

“I think they have taken 15 or 16 points that is promotion form. They know they have had to deliver.

“What Neil will do is keep it on an even keel for Tuesday (and their trip to Bristol City), meaning win, lose or draw against us they won’t get too down and they won’t get too up.

“But that is enough about them. We have to produce the type of performance that we are capable of as individuals.”

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Evans had decided before news of Doukara’s ban came through that Chris Wood would start tomorrow. The £3m summer signing has come off the bench in the last two games, with Evans admitting he got it wrong in not starting the Kiwi against Huddersfield.