Derby boss Paul Warne in startling Leeds United defeat verdict with Whites prediction and rivals difference

Derby County boss Paul Warne delivered a startling ‘uncomfortable’ Leeds United verdict with a Whites season prediction after seeing his Rams team swept aside at Elland Road.

Warne took his 15th-placed Rams side to LS11 in the bid to bounce back from last weekend’s 2-1 loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday but Derby suffered another reverse after goals from Joe Rodon and Max Wober gave Leeds a 2-0 success.

Warne’s side initially kept Leeds at bay until Rodon headed home a Joe Rothwell corner with 39 minutes on the clock. Up until that point, Warne had been pleased with his side’s efforts to “frustrate” the hosts.

But Max Wober then doubled the Whites advantage just five minutes later for a goal that Warne admitted was a big blow just before the interval.

Wober’s strike proved the final goal of the game - a contest that Leeds dominated - and Warne served up huge praise for the Whites in his post match press conference.

The Derby boss readily admitted there was a “gulf in class” as he predicted that Daniel Farke’s Whites would be “right up there” as one of the best teams in the division.

Warne also also admitted he had never felt so “uncomfortable” on the sidelines and that Leeds had his team under more pressure than in recent defeats at promotion rivals Sheffield United and Sunderland. Warne had expressed his view before the game that Leeds were the best team in the league - and Saturday’s success sent the Whites top.

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Speaking post match, Warne said: “I'm not surprised who won the game. I put it out there. I thought we frustrated them pretty well for 30 minutes, it wasn't like my keeper was making loads of saves or anything like that.

“When you come to Elland Road, you have to be resolute and I thought we were really good. The only warning sign, apart from one save I think, was Rodon from a corner, and we fell for the same sucker punch again, so we didn't get close enough to him.

"That's disappointing and then we concede straight away after - it was a big blow. If you go in at halftime at nil nil it's a different game so that was my overriding emotion. I was just disappointed on that.

"I can't really knock my lads for a lot of effort they did. Out of possession they were excellent. I just didn't think in possession we were very good.

“We had passages where we moved it quite well and then the final pass, the final probe - I have to give massive congrats to Leeds - they pressed the living daylights out of us every time we had the ball.

"We ended up virtually feeling like we were going back to our goalkeeper in these conditions, which isn't ideal, and made it tough. And that's why they're one of the top teams in this league.

“It hasn't surprised me about the game. There's nothing that took me where we weren't expecting that. It was just the fact that their players on the day performed better on the ball than we did."

Warne added: "Out of all the games we have played in so far, that was the most unbalanced game I think we've played in. Even our fastest players couldn't get past theirs, their defenders, really, I think it's fair to say.

"That is probably the most uncomfortable I have felt on the side of the pitch, as in, the lads are giving us everything they can. It's very difficult to criticise them but fundamentally, there was a gulf in class, and I can't dispute that.

"Out of all the games we've played, like we played away at Sheff U, we played away at Sunderland, we had a lot more moments in them games than we did today. Based on just a 90 minute glimpse of Leeds then, understandably, they're going to be right up there."