Jack Harrison insists Leeds United have the key ingredient to Premier League survival

That's the message Jack Harrison gave after his side were defeated 2-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday, when the Whites dropped into the relegation zone as, over in the Midlands, Everton claimed a 2-1 away win over Leicester City to climb clear of the drop.

With the final day of the season approaching, United's desperate need for points made a trip to fourth-placed Arsenal, who had won three league games on the bounce before hosting Leeds, look a daunting prospect indeed.

But what was a tricky fixture became close to an impossible challenge after Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah struck two goals within the first ten minutes, with things going from bad to worse when acting United captain Luke Ayling was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Gabriel Martinelli inside half an hour.

With their Premier League status in the balance, Leeds had a two-goal deficit to overcome with just ten men - but Harrison revealed that Jesse Marsch refused to be gloomy in his half-time team talk.

"Just to keep going and keep positive, we were two nil down and it's not how we wanted to start at all," Harrison said.

"It's always difficult when we have a start like that and a red card but, you know, this is football - sometimes you have to go against adversity and we did our best to try and pull things back.

"It's so important during those times to stay positive and stay together as a team and not go against each other.

"I think we did exactly that in the second half, and we had a much much better second half despite being a man down."

With four 'cup finals' remaining to decide the Whites' destiny, the last thing Marsch's side needed was to be put on the backfoot from the very start, but individual errors by Illan Meslier, whose hesitation gifted the Gunners an opener, and Ayling, whose frustration told in his out-of-control tackle, gave Leeds a huge mountain to climb.

But Harrison said that the loss of Ayling didn't fundamentally change the nature of the challenge.

"He always gives his all - every time he steps on the pitch and he's a crucial player for us," Harrison said.

"Things happen in the game - whether it was a red card or not - we had to fight.

"We knew it's gonna be a battle before the game anyway. So we did our best. It's unfortunate that those things happen, but we have to crack on."

After Diego Llorente pulled one back for Leeds in the second half, the visitors began to click, going forward like a team that felt they had a fighting chance of nicking a point against the odds.

Though their quest for an equaliser was fruitless, Harrison said that his side's late bright period is evidence that Leeds have the vital ingredient to staying up.

"I think these moments - you saw the massive lift from the crowd and the reaction that all the players had - and just a belief that we can still go on and maybe get another goal," Harrison said.

"I know we didn't in the end, but having that belief is the most important thing, and that's going to be crucial for us going forward.

"He [Marsch] showed a quote from Ghandi before the game about having belief and that's the most important thing for us.

"It's just having belief, and everything else comes after that - staying together and then the tactics and everything like that."