'Ain't good enough' - Luke Ayling urges Leeds United action amid double worry for Whites

Leeds approached Sunday afternoon’s Premier League hosting of Fulham having lost three games in a row and five of their last seven, none of which had yielded a victory. The Whites took a 20th-minute lead through Rodrigo’s close range header but the Cottagers equalised just six minutes later through Aleksandar Mitrovic and Marco Silva’s side went on to record a 3-2 victory.

The defeat left Leeds in the division’s relegation zone and Ayling admitted there was a definite worry about both the league position and the recent run in form but said there was only one way for his side to react ahead of next Saturday evening’s clash at Liverpool. Asked by post-match media what was more worrying – the performances or the position in the table at present – Ayling admitted: “I think both. I think we are starting games well and then we are just not taking our chances. Both are a worry but we can't sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. We have got to pick ourselves up and go again."

United’s away contingent had already vented their anger at both the team and Whites head coach Marsch during and after Thursday night’s 2-0 defeat Leicester City. Three days later, Fulham’s second goal was followed by a chant of “sacked in the morning” aimed at Marsch but also “sack the board” before loud boos at the full-time whistle and more chants against the board. Ayling, though, said that United’s players were unified in their support of their American head coach.

"All the boys in that changing room are right behind him,” said Ayling. "He came in last year in a tricky position and kept us in the league and we are all behind him this year so we are going to try and pick ourselves up and go again for Saturday."

Ayling, though, also admitted that Leeds gave themselves an insurmountable mountain to climb against Fulham by effectively conceding three goals from set pieces.

"It's a hard one to take,” said Ayling of the defeat as a whole. "We did well in the first 20/30 minutes, scored a good goal and then we are sloppy from set pieces. We let in three from set pieces really today, the first from a corner, then second phase and then from a throw-in. That can't really happen in Premiership football, you don't really give yourself a chance if that happens. They are all set plays and they are all goals that we work hard on in training to try and stop. We have actually been quite good from them this year and then we concede three in one game which ain't good enough."