Under-pressure McDermott in fear of backlash from Leeds fans

McDermott conceded that he and his players would risk losing the crowd if they failed to arrest the run of form which has seen United lose four of their last five league games and yielded a dismal display at the New Den on Saturday.

A 2-0 loss in south London was United’s third successive Championship defeat and an angry McDermott said he was under pressure to “turn it around as quickly as possible” and deliver three points against Bournemouth.

Second-half goals from Martyn Woolford and Scott Malone earned Millwall a deserved victory from a scrappy and forgettable match.

The Bermondsey club were bottom of the table at the start of this month but are now level on points with Leeds and one place behind in 16th after Saturday’s result.

McDermott said: “I need the fans to stay with us but I’m not entitled to say that after the way we played in the second half. If they see more performances like that then we’ll have a problem.

“I can’t ask them to stay with us when we do what we did in the second half. The players know that themselves and we spoke in the dressing room afterwards. The only thing I think about now is going again tomorrow. We have to be right tomorrow.”

McDermott is less than six months into his job at Elland Road and is seen by Leeds as a long-term appointment having signed a three-year contract in April.

But he did not deny that his squad were in the middle of a worrying period, saying: “This is one of those times, definitely.

“We are where we are and we knew what we were taking on. We need to turn it round as quickly as we possibly can.

“I’ve got faith in the players because they can do it, no doubt about that, and you have periods in football where these kind of runs happen.

“I’ve had them before. What you do is get yourself out of them and go on a good run.”

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