Defiant Ralph Hasenhuttl offers Leeds United apology after Southampton score draw

Leeds looked set to pile the misery upon Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl on Saturday afternoon as Rodrigo scored twice in the second half to send the Whites in a convincing lead.

St Mary’s Stadium grew tetchy as the prospect of a sixth straight defeat stared the Austrian in the face with the sun beating down on the south coast.

However, Joe Aribo and Kyle Walker-Peters’ late intervention meant the hosts did not end up empty-handed, instead eating into what could have been a perfect start to the season for Leeds.

Hasenhuttl began his post-match press conference by apologising to the journalists assembled for ‘destroying a few headlines’.

“[We’ve] destroyed a few headlines because they were maybe written at that moment that the team gave the answer,” he began.

"We had a tough week because of some circumstances. But we showed a good reaction and nothing else I expected from this from this fantastic group.”

The security of Hasenhuttl’s job has been called into question this week and the writing appeared to be on the wall before Walker-Peters’ late equaliser.

“I don't want to discuss such headlines because it's very serious,” Hasenhuttl said in response to a question regarding his future.

"It's only up to you if you take it and make a story out of it. Everybody can say something on social media or whatever. It's up to you if you make it big.”

The coach also praised Leeds’ approach to the fixture, describing the match as ‘mentally and tactically demanding’.