'˜Everything I've had I've had to fight for', says embattled Leeds United chief Evans

The embattled Scot was afforded some respite following United’s much-needed 2-1 victory over relegation-haunted Bolton Wanderers, which provided a welcome development at the end of a week which saw Evans’s side suffer a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion.

That loss and performance piled the pressure on the 53-year-old ahead of Saturday’s game, with scores of supporters also making their feelings known regarding the ownership of Massimo Cellino in a pre-planned protest before kick-off.

Leeds fans’ group “Time To Go Massimo” held a mock funeral outside Elland Road to mark “the death of the club” as a protest towards Cellino, and a plane also flew over the ground, half-an- hour before the match started, with a banner displaying the message ‘Time To Go Massimo’.

For his part, Evans maintained his focus and refused to be distracted by off-the-field events and was thankful that United ended their debilitating six-match winless streak with a vital victory which moved them up to 16th – nine points clear of the drop zone.

On whether he was worried about his job ahead of the game, Evans said: “I don’t go to bed worrying about losing my job. I go to bed worrying about failing.

“I didn’t arrive at Elland Road on a nice straight path. I didn’t get handed it because I played in the Premier League. As I said to (Bolton manager) Neil Lennon ‘you played at the top level, I played at a worse level’.

“Everything I’ve had I’ve had to fight for and I’m not going to give up the opportunity to be here.”

Evans was delighted with the character, if not necessarily the quality, shown by his side given Monday’s desperate loss and is adamant that no-one can call into question the spirit of his players.

The United head coach, whose side travel to play-off chasers Cardiff City tomorrow, added: “We came back from Brighton and one thing we pride themselves on under my leadership is that we have a fantastic spirit.

“We didn’t come out of Brighton and look to apportion blame. We spoke about what it would take in this game because we actually think that this is a Bolton side full of good players with a good coach.

“We spoke about how important the three points were, as opposed to individually someone playing well. I’m really proud of my players and staff. It’s been a tough week.

“We’ve had to come here with the most amount of pressure I’ve ever experienced at Elland Road in the lead-up to a game. And we’ve dealt with it.

“To the people who did turn up, we’re very grateful. We possibly didn’t deserve support, especially from the ones who went down to the south coast.

“But we were really hurting and we’ve got a fine win.”