Shaun Wright-Phillips has criticised Luke Ayling for his involvement in Nottingham Forest's winning goal against Leeds United on Sunday.
Forest made it five Premier League games unbeaten with their hard-fought 1-0 win over the Whites, with Brennan Johnson netting the only goal of the game inside 15 minutes. It was another huge win for Steve Cooper's side, who moved six points clear of their weekend opponents to establish some real breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.
Johnson's goal was a superb first-time half volley from the edge of the area, but from a Leeds point of view, it was not without its defensive errors. It was a poor foul to give away from Pascal Struijk initially, whose attempt at a headed clearance was then not good enough.
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Struijk's header fell straight into the path of Johnson, who was left unmarked from the second ball after Ayling switched off at the back post. Speaking on Premier League Productions, Wright-Phillips was critical of Ayling for 'falling asleep' from a simple set-piece situation at a time in the game when Leeds were dominating.
“When you have that much control of the game, especially in the attacking areas, then you need your defence to concentrate at all times.
“Set-pieces, or whatever knocks around and they didn’t do that, which is why they went behind. Luke Ayling, from the set-piece. He fell asleep. Lost contact with his man and he didn’t see him again until the ball was kicked. After that, it’s an uphill battle for him.”
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