Troy Deeney ripped into Leeds’ players after they fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the Championship play-off final on Sunday.
The Whites headed confidently to the Wembley final after cruising past Norwich City with a 4-0 aggregate victory in the play-off semi-final.
But they were stunned by Russell Martin’s Southampton who took the lead in the 24th minute through Adam Armstrong’s clinical finish.
The Yorkshire outfit pushed for an equaliser and would have restored parity if Crysensio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto hadn’t missed their chances.
Daniel James’ powerful effort beat the goalkeeper late in the game but it came off the crossbar as the Saints held out to secure a 1-0 victory.
Troy Deeney, who has played for the likes of Watford and Birmingham City, wasn’t happy with Leeds’ performance and questioned the desire from a number of their players.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Deeney said: ‘There was a moment in the game today where one of their players, who should have been in the box, was the second furthest man back.
‘In the 97th minute, when you’re trying to win. Now that says to me that you don’t want the pressure of ‘this chance could fall to me’.
‘The responsibility. Because, if you miss, then people are going to question you. But if you don’t do anything then people in the game, like us, we question you. And I just question where some of these were at.
‘It felt like, for three or four of those players, this game was for them. And it was like, ‘I’m probably not going to be here next year so let me show how good I am’.
Leeds were in an excellent position at the start of April to seal Premier League promotion as they were unbeaten in their previous 15 Championship matches.
But then they suffered damaging defeats at the hands of Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers, which ultimately led Leicester City and Ipswich Town to win the two automatic spots.
Daniel Farke’s men were at the top of their game in the Championship play-off semifinal against Norwich City and SportsView even backed the Yorkshire side for victory in the Wembley final.
But they were outplayed by Southampton who defended brilliantly after scoring their first goal to make an immediate return to the English top-flight.
