We have to be right on top of our game

Last updated : 15 March 2014 By Tony Scholes

Brian McDermott has had a difficult time at Leeds recently. It's only a few weeks ago that news broke of his sacking only for him to be reinstated when it was confirmed that the person responsible for his sacking had no authority.

In the last week he's had to endure two bad home defeats but on Tuesday they pulled two goals back against Reading and he sees that as a positive.

He said: "I'm looking forward to the next game. I was galvanised by the last half hour at Elland Road. The fans made an amazing atmosphere when we got the two goals back. That is the only part of the game that I can dwell on because you don't want to dwell on what happened before.

"It has been difficult to stand on that line during the last two games when we were losing goals the way that we were. I can't dwell on that. I have to dwell on the last half an hour and how good the fans were.

"We created a lot of opportunities in that last half an hour and we need to carry that on this weekend against Burnley."

Speaking about the Clarets, he said: "I've got nothing but admiration for Sean Dyche. I thought that he was really unfortunate to lose his job at Watford. He is a really good young manager from this part of the world and he deserves all the success he is getting at this moment in time.

"He has set that team up like the team I set up a couple of years ago. Sean is a very good friend of Nigel Gibbs (assistant manager at Leeds) and I know him well. He knows what he has to do to get his team promoted and we do here. We are trying to set that up here but it hasn't been successful yet. Over time it will be successful."

McDermott added: "You've got to compete and work hard. You've got to win every second ball and every first ball and you have to take your chances when you get them. The most important thing is that you run and you run hard. We'll be looking to match them in every single department.

"We've got to try and go there and get a performance to win the game. That is all we can do as a group of people, as a group of staff and as a group of players. If we can do what we did in the last half and hour in the last game at Elland Road we'll have a chance.

Sean Dyche, fresh from four points in the last week from two away games, warned of the threat from Leeds because of their two home results during that period. "They can be a wounded animal at the minute," he said. "You can't define that.

"They've had a couple of indifferent results that they wouldn't have been happy with. I've seen both those games actually, but they've got more to offer.

"I know their squad, manager and coach Nigel Gibbs, all good people who work very hard. It is Leeds United and, let's make no mistake, if you look on paper, they have a fair squad.

"As ever, we don't take anything for granted. We have to be right on top of our game and certainly at our best performance levels. We made it clear that we're ready to go every week and we will be again when the whistle blows."

Dyche, who heaped praise on the Burnley fans after the last two home games against Forest and Derby, again spoke of how important the Turf Moor crowd can be.

"It is a great value to the place," he added. "I think there will be even more home fans and that can only bode well for the club, both on and off the pitch.

"It is important and I've mentioned it many times; the club is there for the community and the community is there for the club. This is the thinking here and I've learned not only to value, but become accustomed to the care and attention from both parties since I've been here, and never more so than when we're winning and doing well, of course.

"We really value it and we want people in the building. We want them to make a lot of noise and get behind the team. It is really important that they support us as they have done."