Ex-Leeds United man names 'biggest' factor behind Crysencio Summerville penalty demand amid promotion verdict

Robert Snodgrass has no issues with the 'confident' Crysencio Summerville taking responsibility and demanding he take the decisive penalty against Hull City.

Leeds United reclaimed their place in the Championship automatic promotion places with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Hull on Monday evening, with Sam Byram and Dan James scoring either side of Summerville's late penalty. The Dutchman won it himself with a typically tricky run before being brought down by full-back Regan Slater.

Joel Piroe looked set to take the resulting spot-kick but Summerville appeared to pull rank, removing the ball from the spot and demanding he take it. Following a brief dispute that called on captain Ethan Ampadu to get involved, the Dutchman rolled past Ryan Allsop and Snodgrass insists a supreme level of confidence was needed.

“That's what happens when they’re confident,” Snodgrass told Sky Sports of Summerville’s run to win the penalty. “That's the biggest thing, when you're a midfielder or a centre-back, you want to try and pass the ball out early to these lads so they can go one-v-one where they can go right, left or get a shot away. They're always positive and they have got players in the final third that can cause teams problems.

“You can see [when Summerville demands the penalty], that’s because he’s confident. He said in his interview ‘I felt good in the match’ so he's thinking ‘give me it, trust me.’ I think Piroe is saying he’s the designated penalty taker, and there's a little dispute but I'm fine with that when you're confident, but you need to score and that's what he’s done.”

Leeds kicked off on Monday evening knowing they simply had to win, with Leicester City and Ipswich Town both securing victories earlier in the day over Norwich City and Southampton respectively. It now looks to be two from three in the automatic promotion spots and Snodgrass is backing his former side to be there come May.

 “I feel that at this moment in time, the momentum has been with Ipswich who have won nine of their last 10," he added. "Leeds are flying, Leicester have been a little stop-start. For me, I’m going to go for Ipswich and Leeds.”