Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa was 'very complimentary' to Crawley says John Yems after FA Cup giant-killing

John Yems said his counterpart Marcelo Bielsa was 'very complimentary' about Crawley. Photo: Getty Images

A stunning second-half display saw Crawley power past a strong Leeds team, with Nick Tsaroulla, Ashley Nadesan and Jordan Tunnicliffe scoring in a 3-0 victory.

Speaking to the BBC, Yems said the result had not yet sunk in.

"The pity is that there is no supporters here," he said. "I've been telling the lads to go out and enjoy tonight, but you can't go out anywhere so that shows how up to date I am with things!

"But no, listen, it is what it is. Hopefully we can move onwards and upwards.

"Nick Tsaroulla is another one, alongside Max Watters, a few people have said 'what am I doing signing those?'

"But sometimes you get these lads who want a second chance, and they come on and perform like that, and it is brilliant for them, because they've had enough knocks so let them enjoy the moment."

When asked about this battle against Bielsa, Yems said: "It's not me v Bielsa. It's all the about the team.

"I've gone past that stage - it's nothing to do with me. He does what he does, and I do what I do.

"He was very complimentary afterwards, but I suppose if you lose 3-0 you can't do anything but."

Yems said the result was deserved for his side, who 'were always going to have a go at them'.

He added: "It's easy to say it now, but I've been saying it all week, we were never going to sit off. We were always going to have a go at them and I know we've got some good players, and we've worked hard all week, and on the day our performance was better than them and we deserved the 3-0.

"At half-time I just said keep doing what we're doing, and have a bit more belief in ourselves. We've seen all season that we've got goals in us. We had a game plan and we stuck to it and the lads really worked their socks off and got their rewards.

"All of us, all the backroom staff, worked on it, but it is all about the players. They've bought into it and we've put our ideas down and they've executed those, and if you keep on doing that you get results."