Town boss Mick McCarthy says he doesn’t understand why the likes of Leeds manager Steve Evans feel the need to talk down teams who have just beaten them. Evans was highly critical of the Blues following the Whites’ 2-1 defeat at Portman Road on Tuesday.
The former Rotherham boss accused Town of simply "lumping” the ball up to striker Daryl Murphy, said they had been "as bad in spells as we were” and dismissively added that if the Blues are "the benchmark [for the play-offs] then we’ll take that benchmark”.
Quizzed about the comments, McCarthy said: "He can talk, can’t he? He certainly gives his jaw some exercise, I don’t know what else but his jaw certainly gets some exercise.
"I thought we were excellent on Tuesday night and all the stats point to that and I don’t understand why people do it. It’s almost like self-publicists talk up a good game. Why?
"We played Portsmouth on Saturday and they battered us and I’m honest to say, I’m not happy to say because I’d prefer not to be saying that, but that they were great.
"If we get beat and we’ve not played very well, why does it always have to be that it’s some outside influence except the opposition that’s beaten them?
"It’s great when you’re on a good run because you can be really magnanimous in being undefeated and winning games, that’s great. But a little bit of honesty and integrity I find is really welcome. Not everybody’s that way unfortunately.”
In addition to his comments about the Blues, Evans was also highly critical of referee Fred Graham after the game - "I thought he was absolutely garbage" - and the official wouldn’t leave the field following the final whistle until the furious Leeds boss had been removed from the tunnel by stewards.