Leeds United: Clapham delighted on 'emotional day' for Heckingbottom against Barnsley

The United manager left his boyhood club in February to take up the hot seat at Elland Road and was subject to abuse from the visiting supporters for the way in which he departed the south Yorkshire club.

Saturday afternoon's 2-1 victory was the first time he had faced his former employers since and Heckingbottom decided to send his assistant to carry out his post-match media duties.

Clapham though was quizzed on how much he thought the victory over Barnsley will have meant to the Whites manager given the circumstances saying: "I obviously can't answer for Paul but for me it's great to get three points.

"It's an emotional day leading up to it because everywhere you go and work there's a lot of good people within football clubs and Barnsley was no different. It added to the game today because of who it was and where we'd come from.

"It was only something you'd expect but I'm sure he's down there delighted with the three points as I am."

Following the victory a minority of Reds fans attempted to make their way towards the tunnel where Heckingbottom was standing but when asked about the abuse Clapham shrugged it off.

"I didn't hear any until the end and it was quite amusing but it's something you expect," he continued.

"It's a derby as well, it was well tempered and there weren't any bad challenges with two teams who wanted to win. They're fighting for their lives and it's obviously a difficult stage of the season for us because we want to win every game but if you're at the bottom there's a different edge to the game because there's really something on it.

"It summed up our season today. The first twenty minutes I thought we were exceptional, we played really fast and on the front foot. Then we got the goal and after the goal for some unknown reason we switched off.

"They got themselves back into the game because of us which was a disappointment and at half-time we had to have a strong word with them. In the end it was fantastic for our players and full credit to them because they stuck in there."

Asked why Heckingbottom hadn't appeared for his media duties Clapham joked: "He might have injured himself and couldn't get up the stairs. It was always something we discussed when we came in here that I was going to come up and do it for this game."