Town boss Jim Magilton branded the referee's decision not to abandon the game after the pitch invasion by Leeds fans “shambolic”. The Blues' 1-1 draw at Elland Road all but relegated the home side.

Referee Mick Jones decided that the players should return after the invasion, even though less than a minute remained on the clock. Magilton felt that the sensible move would have been to bring the game to a premature close: "It was a shambolic but brave decision to come back out.

"I was involved in something similar at West Ham when the referee called the game off. He should have called this one off.

"It was a poor decision. The players were worried about going back out. If any of them had got injured or hurt, I would have been knocking on the referee's door.

"The Leeds fans had obviously heard the Hull result and they are a passionate set of supporters. Once they came on the pitch with so little time left I thought that was it.

"I didn't think it was a rational decision to go back out there, but we did and nobody got hurt, so we move on.

"We had a lot of young players out there and it was always going to be a hostile atmosphere and I was delighted with the way they handled it. They were impeccable.

"Our fans were brilliant as well and overall we deserved a point. It was a terrific goal and we could have won the game at the end.

"Some of our football was fantastic and now we can look forward to next week and hopefully finish off the season in style at home to Cardiff."

John Nagle, the Football League's head of communications, condemned the actions of the Leeds fans: "Clearly, passions will run high at this stage of the season.

"However, it is deplorable for supporters to enter the field of play at any time. The events at Elland Road will be a matter for the Football Association to investigate and these actions by a minority of Leeds supporters could have serious consequences for the club."

Leeds boss Dennis Wise was uncharacteristically quiet when asked about the invasion: "It's a sad enough day as it is. I don't want to talk about that."

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