Jesse Marsch admits Leeds United are employing psychological tactic with Premier League referees

Leeds United fell to their first defeat of the season last weekend as a solitary Pascal Gross strike secured a 1-0 win for Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Whites’ afternoon on the south coast was punctuated by a refereeing display which rankled with head coach Jesse Marsch, who could be seen expressing his frustration in the technical area.

Throughout the first half, Leeds were repeatedly penalised for minor infractions, much to the annoyance of American Marsch.

The fourth official made several attempts to calm the Leeds head coach, warning the 48-year-old that he may be cautioned if his touchline antics carried on.

During the second half, referee Michael Salisbury showed a yellow card to Marsch after the Leeds boss aggressively threw the ball to the floor following a foul on Brenden Aaronson.

Marsch applauded the official, somewhat disingenuously and subsequently received a caution for his trouble.

His touchline behaviour was the subject of a number of questions during the post-match press conference, to which the former New York Red Bulls man responded, defending his actions whilst acknowledging he was deserving of a booking.

“I thought my behaviour at that point deserved the yellow card,” Marsch said after the Brighton defeat.

"But I always say, I'll repeat myself, but when when you don't win, when you don't believe that you're getting performances out of the referee, I think you have two options: to sit there and take it or to escalate your behaviour to try to make a point to see if you can affect the way that decisions are getting made.

"Sometimes it works for you, sometimes it works against you, but I'll never be a guy that just sits there and takes it – that's not my style,” Marsch added.

Premier League match official Graham Scott is the man in the middle for tonight’s fixture with Everton, and will need to manage those on the touchline, as well as the players on the pitch.

Both Marsch and Toffees boss Frank Lampard are renowned for becoming animated at officiating decisions from within their technical areas.