Michael Carrick makes ‘Premier League’ claim about Leeds United after a good performance at Elland Road,declay them winner of the league ….

Michael Carrick has delivered his verdict on Leeds United following his Middlesbrough side’s 3-1 defeat at Elland Road.

Carrick refused to label Leeds as the toughest away ground to visit in the Championship pre-match but they are now the eighth successive team to leave West Yorkshire empty handed.

Having said that, Boro were arguably the best side to visit Elland Road and certainly the only ones who came to try and outplay Leeds.

At one stage following Max Wober’s own goal, the game was very much in the balance. In the end, however, Leeds’ quality and fitness told as Dan James and Brenden Aaronson both scored late on.

James was Leeds’ player of the match on the night, playing a key role in all three goals. His form since the international break has been hugely impressive.

Michael Carrick makes ‘Premier League’ claim about Leeds

Almost every manager after playing Leeds have labelled Daniel Farke’s side as the best in the division. Derby County boss Paul Warne even claimed he was ‘uncomfortable‘ watching his team from the touchline on the weekend.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Carrick wasn’t so eager to go over board on Leeds, though praise was certainly there.

Carrick believes Leeds have both a ‘Premier League setup’, and ‘Premier League’ quality players, but was disappointed his side couldn’t come away with somethin

He said: “You have to feed off the disappointment and don’t just accept it. They have a Premier League set-up. We move on quickly, but the disappointment shows we know where we’re at. It’s a good sign. Use it as motivation.

“Not watched the first goal back. Felt like there was ricochet and it fell for him. You can always pick goals apart, but it does not always tell the story of little bits here and there.

“We played with belief in the second half and maybe our sharpness was blunted by thinking that second goal was coming for us. It’s always difficult to say about the points difference being fair.

“They’re a good team with a lot of Premier League players in there. We are learning and improving and going in the right direction. We have to close that gap

Daniel Farke delivers verdict on Middlesbrough after Leeds win

Farke is always pretty complementary of opposition sides but was even more so about Middlesbrough in his post-match press conference.

The Leeds boss hailed Boro as an ‘excellent side’ who came to win, making the victory for his side all the more ‘sweeter’.

He said: “Yes. No doubt it’s a well-deserved win in the end. I want to congratulate Boro for a good away performance. That makes our win even sweeter. We played an excellent side and deserved it. Really good first half. Wasted too many chances in the first half. Should have been 2-0 or 3-0 at half-time.

They pushed us back in the second half and focused on the counters. Problems in the first half when our structure against the ball was not right. Corrected this and limited them. It’s an unlucky goal, and it was difficult to turn the tide from there. Many compliments to the players. It costs a lot of energy to be proactive at 1-1, but we did this. It was a good assist from Piroe and a top-class James finish