Lee Hendrie drops ‘big gift’ verdict live on Sky Sports after incident in Leeds United defeat at Preston
Leeds United were handed a “big gift” during their 2-1 defeat at Preston on Boxing Day (26 December), according to Sky Sports co-commentator Lee Hendrie.
The Whites brought themselves back into the game at Deepdale when Dan James went to ground in the penalty area under a challenge from Ali McCann and Pascal Struijk put away the resulting penalty.
Leeds went on to lose 2-1 courtesy of Liam Millar’s strike, but Hendrie pondered whether the visitors were lucky to have a way back into the game anyway.
“I know Christmas has come but this could be a big gift for Leeds,” Hendrie said on co-commentary for Sky Sports.
“Dan James, big drive, hasn’t really been in the game. It’s just the clip as he tries to come away, not sure there’s an awful lot though, it’s the clip then he stands on his foot.”
Chance missed
It was a hugely frustrating afternoon for Leeds, who gave away a big gift the day after Christmas themselves when Illan Meslier was sent off and to be honest they were fighting an uphill battle from that point onwards.
Just three days on from giving Ipswich Town a good hiding at Elland Road, the Tractor Boys remain seven points clear ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with Leicester City later on Boxing Day.
Leeds consequently are left to rue yet another huge opportunity to trim the gap and put pressure on Kieran McKenna’s second place side and that will leave Leeds fans hugely deflated having been riding the high of that 4-0 rout the other day.
As for whether it was a “gift” for Leeds, well, really what does it matter now? They had a huge chance to come away with something but now that chance has sailed and the only hope now is that Ipswich don’t pull further clear by the end of the night.
In other Leeds United news, here are our player ratings from the game.