Leeds must move on swiftly, insists McDermott

Former Rotherham United goal-poacher Adam Le Fondre headed home in the sixth minute of stoppage time to secure a 1-0 win for the Royals on Wednesday – McDermott’s first return to the Berkshire club after being sacked six months ago.

It inflicted a first seasonal defeat on the road for United, who are still without a win at the Madejski Stadium, but McDermott – despite obvious disappointment on his Royals reunion night – maintained an admirable sense of perspective following the game.

The Leeds chief, whose side host surprise packages Burnley tomorrow, said: “Over 40-odd games as the season is, you are going to get knockbacks. I’ve lost a play-off final which was horrendous. That on Wednesday wasn’t horrendous.

“We just move on from that quickly. I just said to them, ‘Get on with it’. You can wallow in results like that as long as you like, but it’s not my cup of tea to do that. We move on to the next game against Burnley and let’s make sure we get it right and do what we’ve got to do against them.

“The division is very tight. We played QPR and got done on a free-kick again, which was annoying. We got done on a free-kick again at Reading, beaten that way by a team with good players.

“We didn’t deserve to lose but we did. But it’s a results business at the end of the day.

“Our goalkeeper didn’t have too many saves to make, but the issue is that their goalkeeper didn’t either. We have to take that on board. We have to make the opposition goalkeeper work more.”

McDermott thanked both his club’s supporters – and Reading’s – for the ovation given to him before the kick-off.

The two sets of fans then took it in turns early in the first half to hail the popular manager in song.

McDermott, who spent 13 years with Reading before being controversially sacked in March, had been too preoccupied with merely getting to the ground ahead of kick-off – United’s arrival was delayed due to heavy congestion approaching the stadium – to indulge in lengthy pleasantries or speak to well-wishers.

Issuing his gratitude yesterday, he added: “We were only two miles away up the road and the traffic was horrendous. We wanted to get out and do our warm-up so I only concentrated on the game.

“But I appreciate the reception I got and I thought the Leeds fans were excellent, too. It made for a decent atmosphere. But at 0-0 after 95-odd minutes, I just thought the game was done.”