Reaction: Hurzeler and Dunk on painful finale at Elland Road

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Head coach and skipper with their reaction to Sunday's 1-0 defeat against Leeds United.

Bruce Talbot

2026-05-17T18:40+01:00

Fabian Hurzeler looks on from the dugout at Elland Road. 📷James Boardman

Fabian Hurzeler:

"I think we could have (made it) it much easier today if we scored, if we used our chances more effectively. But overall, I was pleased how we created the chances, how we dominated the game. Also, how we defended in the end. There was one easy mistake from us. Mistakes happen. It's a game of mistakes, so if you don't make mistakes, then there will never be a goal.

“So we have to accept it. We have to analyse it. We have to stay positive. We have to believe in ourselves and focus on the last game, focus on the things we can control because we did a lot of things right today. We dominated the game. If we had scored earlier then I think it would be a much easier game. We take the positives away.

"I think in the first half we didn't play like we wanted to play, so that's something we'll be analysing. And then afterwards, we were much better. We created a lot of chances, and in the end I think we should have won the game. That's why we stay positive and try to have a big finish at the Amex next week."

Skipper Lewis Dunk

"I think all that was missing was that little bit of quality, the cutting edge, the ruthlessness. We were okay. We played some good stuff. We didn't give them a great deal but in the end it's a painful one to take, but we've got to dust ourselves off and pick ourselves up and have a good week's training. We've got a massive last game of the season. If you'd have offered me it at the start of the season, I'd have snapped your hand off.

"When you look at the middle part of the season, we had one win in 14 games. We've shown what we've got in this changing room as a group and as people. Today was difficult, but we know we've come back from worse than this. That's the way we’ve got to look at it. We have to have a good week’s training and look forward. There’s one massive game. It's a cup final for us to reach Europe. Let’s work hard and try and do it."