'Wouldn't say bullets fired' - Leeds United dressing room curtain pulled back on half-time team talk

Playing the worst team in the league with a one-man advantage was not necessarily an easier task for Leeds United at the weekend, according to Ethan Ampadu. The skipper also knocked back any suggestion Daniel Farke had torn into the players in the dressing room after storming down Cardiff City’s tunnel at half-time.

The Whites dominated Saturday’s match and came away with a 2-0 win in Wales. Cardiff were winless going into the match and had to play for more than 70 minutes with 10 men, but Ampadu says that red card can make life harder for the 11 men.

“We knew it was always going to be a tough game,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “There was a lot of people talking about their form, but I said before the game, no matter what form they'll come into it [with], they were always going to come and try and win this game.

READ MORE:Leeds United loanee has 'very important' role amid £10.8m transfer agreement

READ MORE:Creeping sense of Leeds United dread epitomised in Farke being eaten up by precise annoyances

“That's what professionals do. We knew it was to be a hard game. Every away game, every game in this league's tough, so we didn't expect anything less. We controlled the game.

“When it goes down to 10 men, sometimes you might think that'll be easy because you play an overload, but also it can be a little harder because they can defend near the box and make it compact, which they did. So, for us, it was about staying patient.

“When Joel [Piroe] came on, he had one chance and he took it superbly. It made it a little bit easier at the end, but we always felt comfortable. We felt like that because, as much as we had the ball, we had to stay switched on defensively.”

Farke could be seen marching down the tunnel a few moments before referee Josh Smith blew the half-time whistle. The manager was evidently unhappy with some elements of his side’s play against the Championship strugglers.

Ampadu was asked if there were bullets flying during the half-time team talk.

“I wouldn’t say bullets fired,” he said. “It was more just what we had to do. We all take responsibility in this team, whether it’s staff or players. We all know we had to do that little bit more to get that second goal earlier than we did.

“It was never going to be easy. No game ever is easy, but like you said at the start, two goals, three points, clean sheet away from home. We can be happy that.”