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‘I Won’t Resign’ Says McDermott After Latest Defeat

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Leeds manager Brian McDermott last night denied claims he is set to resign, following his side’s second home defeat in two games.

This time it was Charlton who benefitted from Leeds’ poor form, which McDermott puts down to the confusion surrounding the never-ending takeover saga.

Unsurprisingly however, streams of fans have blamed him and his tactics for the standard of football we have recently been subjected to. Last night’s match saw him ring the changes, with Michael Tonge and Aidy White starting their first games in months.

Such was White’s impact that he stayed on the pitch till the very end, and won a 90th minute penalty which would have rescued a point from another lacklustre performances.

But top scorer Ross McCormack was again unconvincing from the spot as visiting keeper Ben Hamer denied him what would have been a 28th league goal of the season.

Charlton won the game courtesy of Reza Ghoochannejhad’s 54th minute goal, which you couldn’t say was undeserved.

To add to McDermott’s worries, second top-scorer Matt Smith went off at half time suffering with injury, being replaced by Noel Hunt, something which may give the manager a selection headache as they prepare for their next game; this weekend’s trip to high-flying Wigan, live on Sky.

There’s no doubt that McDermott will make changes again for this weekend’s game, particularly in attacking areas after failing to score on Tuesday.

Many fans have hurled their criticism in the direction of Noel Hunt who, despite being injured for a large part of this season, has failed to make an impact.

He was never the most consistent scorer at previous Reading under the guidance of then manager McDermott, but he has failed to find the net all season, after scoring in his first pre-season game for the club at Farsley back in June.

Cameron Stewart has also found games hard to come by in recent weeks, despite the lack of pace and chances being created in wide areas. However, Jimmy Kebe remains out of the side due to injury, so three is some light at the end of the tunnel, at least.

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