Dan James singles out 'unbelievable' Leeds United star who 'dragged' them to victory vs Hull City

Daniel James credited the 'unbelievable' Crysencio Summerville with almost single-handedly winning Monday's game against Hull City.

Leeds United were 3-1 winners at Elland Road on a night where the scoreline did not reflect the performance, with Daniel Farke's side made to fight hard for three points. The game looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw after Fabio Carvalho cancelled out Sam Byram's early opener, but Summerville grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and won a penalty in the 88th minute.

The 22-year-old pulled rank on Joel Piroe to take the spot-kick himself and, following a brief dispute, calmly rolled the ball past Ryan Allsop. James made it three with a brilliant effort from the halfway line in added-time but singled out his Dutch teammate for praise.

“I saw the goalkeeper come up for a corner and Joel played me through,” James told LUTV of his goal. “I've had a few this season where I’ve tried to lob the keeper and it hasn't come off so I thought to try it on more time. From my angle, I always knew it was going in. It was a nice feeling when it went in.

“Hull were really good tonight. First-half they were a lot more on top, second-half we started to find more pockets, had a few chances, we hit the post and you start to think it's not our night. Especially at home, we always dig in until the end. 

“Cry [Summerville] was unbelievable the other night, he dragged us through it and he’s done it again tonight. To get the penalty but also step up and send the keeper, put it down the middle, credit to him.”

Victory marks the end of a tough Easter period for Leeds but one in which they have taken four points from two games, despite being nowhere near their best. The March international break has hurt Farke's side with Wilfried Gnonto, Ilia Gruev and Connor Roberts all picking up injuries while Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon played 210 minutes in the space of a week.

Performances notwithstanding, Leeds' ability to stay in the top two through Easter will provide a major boost and they now have four days to rest and prepare for Saturday's trip to Coventry City. And James knows it will be another huge weekend in the promotion race.

“It's always tough coming back from internationals,” the Whites winger added. “Quite a lot of the boys were away, we only came back Wednesday and a lot of us have played games. We couldn't really train, only had two or three days to prepare for Watford.

“It’s relentless, as soon as we come back playing Friday and Monday. I thought we were brilliant tonight, and we’ve got to take that into the next game. It's going to be a really tough game away to Coventry, an in-form side. We'll take the positives but we have a lot to work on. Now we have a little rest tomorrow and then go again at Coventry on Saturday.”