Town boss Paul Jewell was again left shaking his head after more calamitous individual defensive errors handed Leeds a 3-1 win they hardly deserved at Elland Road. Jewell admitted that the mistakes against the West Yorkshiremen took things to a new level.
Jewell said: "I think we were in control of the game, then I don’t know what the goalkeepers were doing. You have to see it to believe it.
"For 70 minutes we were winning the game. We’ve restricted Leeds to very few chances, if any at all gilt-edged.
"One long ball and our goalkeeper decides he’s coming out for it and handles outside the box. With 10 men we were always going to be up against it but to give the goals away in the fashion that we did. I’ve said it so many times this season, but I think today is another level.
"We’re shooting ourselves in the feet time and time again,” he continued, clearly frustrated by more points having been thrown away after what had been a promising first half display.
"There was so much good about today, about the way we’ve played. We were good in all departments up until decision-making by Alex and Sonko that cost us the sending off.”
Meanwhile, stand-in skipper Sonko said sorry for his mistakes on Twitter: "I do want to apologise for today. My error cost us."
Jewell felt the goals were as bad as the red card: "The second goal is a long ball from the full-back that the goalkeeper should come and collect. The third one bounced on the edge of our box. They’ve scored three goals, and that’s why we are where we are.”
The Town boss is on the lookout for more defenders, having targeted Leicester’s Sean St Ledger and Portsmouth pair Jason Pearce and Joel Ward during the transfer window after a campaign blighted by similar capitulations by his backline: "It’s not just because of today it’s been because of the whole season.
"Having said that, I thought Tommy Smith did well and as a team we weren’t in danger for 70 minutes.
"Leeds were getting very frustrated. We passed the ball better than them, we created more opportunities, we looked in control of the match, we were controlling the tempo of the game. The gifts we gave them they haven’t had to work hard for. Again, it’s the same old thing.”
He says managers can’t legislate for the type of errors made all too regularly by his players: "As a manager, as a coach, there are certain things you can affect, but the decisions I’ve seen today, they’re just bad decisions which have cost us goals.
"I’ll always take responsibility as I pick the team but when people see the goals on TV they’ll scratch their heads.
"It wasn’t as if we were coming under severe pressure. It was just a long ball that our centre-half was going to deal with, he was going to head it back to Alex, and for some reason has decided to come charging out.
"It was windy out there, very windy and I guess even our goal was a mistake from their goalkeeper.”
Jewell says there have been no developments on transfers: "All the offers we’ve made have been rejected but we will be trying to bring in players, there’s no doubt about that.
"I don’t know about [improved bids] yet. We’ll have to sit down and speak about how far away we are from the other clubs’ valuations."
He says he doesn’t expect anything to happen regarding Sean St Ledger, who is back in Leicester’s plans, at least in the short-term, while there are no offers for any members of the current squad: "There are no enquiries for our players. We’ve made lots of enquiries and are pursuing other targets. It’s the same old boring lines I’ve got for you.”
Leeds boss Simon Grayson admitted his team had gained their victory largely by taking advantage of Town’s mistakes but felt the match was not dissimilar to the one between the teams at Portman Road earlier in the season: "That’s what can happen in football matches.
"We were poor in the first half, we never really got going. We would liked to have made a better start in terms of possession of the ball, closing them down and working them.
"We went a goal behind to a soft goal, it took a slight deflection but Andy Lonergan holds his hands up, he should have done better with it, and I think we were fortunate to be only one down at half-time.
"But in the second half we got to grips with things, changed it around a little bit, spoke to the players and gave them the belief that we could go and win the game, never mind draw it because we had to do a lot of things a lot better. We knew that we could still create opportunities and maybe win the game.
"The sending off obviously changed the game and it mirrored the game at Portman Road earlier in the season.
"For part of that game we were the best team, the sending off changed the game and Ipswich went and won the game.
"We’ve won the game off the back of the sending off and we’re delighted to have done that.”