Leeds United defender Pontus Jansson has sent teammate Kalvin Phillips a heartfelt message after the midfielder apologised for his sending off in the defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The Whites suffered a 4-2 loss at the City Ground in their first game on 2019 and were forced to play the second 45 minutes with 10 men after Phillips was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle.
He issued an apology to his teammates and fans on his personal Twitter account for his dismissal but Jansson responded by insisting he did not need to say sorry in a brilliant show of support.
The Swede wrote on his Twitter account: “You are one of the biggest reasons why this team are first in the table and you have been standing up for us every single minute so far so don’t say sorry, we are all behind you!”
https://twitter.com/PJansson5/status/1080158409461325825
Opinion
While Jansson is trying to be a supportive teammate here, he might well have got it a little wrong. Yes, Phillips has been magnificent and a big part of why the Whites are leading the Championship this season but he absolutely needs to say sorry for what happened on Tuesday. Had it been a case of two yellow cards contributing to his sending off, or even a contentious dismissal, then maybe he could get away without taking much blame. However, his tackle was stupid and reckless and his absence was no doubt a reason why Forest were able to dominate as much as they did in the second half of the New Year’s Day encounter. Still, regardless of what Jansson has to say, it is brilliant to see him supporting his teammate after a tough day for everyone at Elland Road, and this exceptional camaraderie is one reason why Leeds are performing as well as they are this season.