Dan James rues massive blow for Leeds United and makes admission about Everton display

Leeds fell behind in the tenth minute as Donny van de Beek's cross was headed home by Seamus Coleman but United were dealt an initial setback one minute earlier as Stuart Dallas was forced off injured.

Everton then doubled their lead in the 23rd as Michael Keane headed home a corner and the Toffees bagged a third with 12 minutes left when Richarlison's strike deflected off Anthony Gordon to beat Illan Meslier.

James then had United's only chance of the second half when firing wide, Leeds having been twice denied by the crossbar in the first half as two fine efforts from Rodrigo smacked back off the frame of the goal.

But United failed to muster a shot on target and James admitted that Everton were fully deserving of their victory after catching Leeds cold early on.

"We just didn't start well and they did," said James to BBC Sport.

"They were on the front foot and put us under pressure.

"When the crowd got behind them they looked like a great team. We tried to control the game a bit more but we didn't start at the races.

"We just didn't deal with it well. The crowd really got behind them and that worked in their favour. The early goal killed us a little bit. They were the better team today.

"We had to try and work to get back into the game and we couldn't. We had to keep creating chances but they got their second. We still believed we could get back into it. We all believe in ourselves, it just wasn't our day."

Reflecting on the injury to Dallas, James admitted: "It's a massive blow. He is a great player and can play anywhere on the pitch. Hopefully he's not out for too long."

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