Blackburn Rovers defender Derrick Williams believes recent opponents Leeds United were ‘there for the taking’ after their 2-1 defeat at the weekend.

Blackburn fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Elland Road against Leeds on Saturday despite only registering one shot on goal all game. Leeds took a quick-fire 2-0 lead just after the half-hour mark thanks to a Patrick Bamford penalty and well-placed Jack Harrison effort, however, the Rovers hit back shortly after with a powerful header from Williams before half time.

The scores remained the same for the rest of the fixture and Leeds came away with all three points, with relative comfort in the second half. 

The momentum did seem to swing in Leeds’ favour hugely following the penalty, as they had previously dominated possession but had little to show for it. Once the penalty was converted, the game seemed to only be destined for one outcome: a Leeds win.

Despite this, there was still as a feeling of disappointment in the Blackburn camp that this was a missed opportunity for the away side to get an unlikely result at Elland Road. When speaking to the club’s official site, Blackburn’s goal-scorer Williams commented on the frustrating result: “We’re very frustrated because we felt Leeds were there for the taking, I felt we could have nicked one towards the end in the last 20 minutes or so. It’s disappointing, but it’s a tough place to come and we were solid in the first 20 minutes in particular.

“The penalty seemed to swing the momentum in their favour, but we dug in, managed to get a goal but unfortunately we couldn’t get a second.

“We felt comfortable at the start and we’re just disappointed by the penalty decision given against us.

“I thought Tosin [Adarabioyo] got a touch of the ball and even the Leeds player didn’t think it was a penalty. It’s frustrating when things like that go against you.

“I think 2-0 is always a dangerous scoreline, so after we got a goal back I had a feeling we’d perhaps get a second goal," he added.

“But it wasn’t to be. I had a chance in the second half that went wide and it was a difficult day.

“Big decisions went against us, but I felt we did alright against a team in the top three of the division."

The Verdict

Williams’ comments do seem a bit narrow-minded given the balance of the game. He is right in thinking that Leeds could have been taken advantage of in certain areas, as his goal showed, but it is wide of the mark to suggest that his side were behind purely on the basis of poor officiating.

Blackburn and Williams can certainly take positives from this performance though as they prepare for a very important fixture against Barnsley at Ewood Park, that they will hope to bounce back with all three points in.