By Sam Stone

5th Feb, 2023 | 5:40pm

Alan Smith blasts Danilo for 'stupid' Pascal Struijk incident in Leeds United loss v Nottingham Forest

Alan Smith has slammed Nottingham Forest defender Danilo for a “stupid” tackle on Pascal Struijk in the first half of their Premier League clash against Leeds United.

The Brazilian defender flew in on the 23-year-old defender and was booked by referee Robert Jones.

Smith was less than impressed with the 21-year-old who was “never” in a position to win the ball off of the young Dutchman.

“It’s a stupid challenge, he’s never position to get the ball here. It’s a silly one,” said Smith (Sky Sports commentary, 14: 29).

Daft

It was a daft tackle from the Nottingham Forest defender and Struijk was actually fortunate to have walked away relatively unscathed. The Dutchman didn’t enjoy his best half of football, having given away a cheap foul in the build-up to Brennan Johnson’s opener for the hosts.

The first half wasn’t too bad for Leeds but they once again found themselves trailing due to another poor goal being conceded. Shipping soft goals when on top seems to be a pattern which is emerging and desperately needs to end if Jesse Marsch wants to steer his side away from the bottom three.

The Leeds boss now has nowhere to hide when it comes to the results his team are currently churning out. There was an opportunity for three points against Forest which was badly spurned.

With a doubleheader against Manchester United how around the corner things aren’t getting any easier for the Whites. The pressure is now firmly on the American.

In other Leeds United news, check out how we rated the players for their performances at the City Ground.