I'd pick Bellusci on Saturday despite QPR mistakes says Leeds United boss Steve Evans

Bellusci’s late foul on Sebastian Polter allowed Tjaronn Cherry to level from the spot with three minutes to go, cancelling out Chris Wood’s 70th-minute opener.

It was a second costly mistake in as many games for Bellusci, after his last-minute meltdown at Rotherham on Saturday allowed them to score a last-gasp penalty and take a 2-1 win.

Bellusci is a talented defender who has shone at times since signing from Catania in the summer of 2014, but errors such as this have become a regular part of his game.

Evans, though, is standing by his man in spite of heavy criticism from the stands.

“Giuseppe Bellusci is a very good player and has had a couple of games where he’s done things you would expect better of him,” he said.

“I tell you what he is, he’s a man. He walked into the dressing room and was very humble to everyone. He did the same at Rotherham. He’s an honest man who doesn’t take things lightly. I know that kid, he won’t have slept a lot after Rotherham.

“We support all our players, we have a tight-knight dressing room where we support all our players.

“I would (pick him with confidence) on Saturday. There are other good centre-halves who have cost me more. I think on Saturday it was different to tonight. The boy (Polter) got a lucky ricochet but if I have to play him, I will.”

For QPR boss Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, a point on his Elland Road return came after his side initially failed to get to grips with Leeds.

The Dutchman scored 42 goals for Leeds across two brilliant seasons in the 1990s, and he was afforded a warm reception on his return to the dugout, after a few not-so-pleasant appearances for other clubs as a player.

Until Bellusci’s foul, Rangers had failed to get a real sight of 19-year-old debutant goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, but when he did, Cherry, did not waste the chance.

“There was no doubt in his head how he was going to hit it,” Hasselbaink said of the substitute’s thunderous penalty. “He was very confident, took the ball and I like that he took responsibility.

“The game was not how I expected it to be. We had two strikers on the pitch, they changed their side. We thought they would play with two strikers but they made it difficult for us to be fluent and have passes and be dominant. Fair play to them.

“Nobody had any chances in the first half, nobody dominated the play, my goalkeeper and their goalkeeper did not have much to do. I always felt we were going to finish stronger than them in the last 15 minutes.”

Leeds United: Peacock-Farrell, Berardi, Bellusci, Cooper, Taylor, Bridcutt, Murphy (Diagouraga 83), Cook, Dallas (Coyle 85), Carayol (Mowatt 89), Wood. Subs not used: Grimes, Bamba, Adeyemi, Antenucci.

QPR: Smithies; Onuoha, Angella, Hall, Perch; Phillips, Faurlin, Luongo, Hoilett (Chery 74); Mackie (Polter 24), Washington (El Khayati 80). Subs not used: Ingram, Robinson, Henry, Gladwin.

Referee: James Adcock.

Attendance: 17, 388.