Leeds United rivals met with boos during Liverpool loss as Dean Smith responds to Leicester City anger

Dean Smith said he understood the frustration of the Leicester City supporters after his side were booed off the pitch during their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool.

The result marked a largely-positive round of Premier League fixtures for Leeds United, as their point against Newcastle United moved them above Leicester City into 18th and just a point behind Everton in 17th.

Curtis Jones scored twice at the King Power Stadium to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead at the break, as the home players were met with boos at the half-time whistle.

Trent Alexander-Arnold adding a stunning third goal as the Foxes stare down the barrel of relegation with a trip to Newcastle awaiting them on Monday.

“The crowd are here to see us try and win football games. They get disappointed when you’re two goals down at half-time,” said Smith.

“You understand that when goals go against you. That is only my third home game and it’s the first home defeat we’ve had.

“They were magnificent in the first two against Everton and Wolves. No football fan wants to see their team get beat.

“It is a group of really good footballers but we came up against a team that overran us physically today. It’s pretty simple.

“We need to win our next game. It will be tough at St James’ Park. It would be nice to take the lead for once.”

Reflecting on the result, Smith added: “We concede an awful goal from our point of view. We wanted to play in their half and make their centre-backs run back to goal but one ball beats our back four and then they score another soon after. Then you’re chasing a game against a supremely talented team.

“For the first goal there is a lot we can do to deal with it. It’s really tough to come back against teams like Liverpool, with the way they keep the ball. Goals change games. Two goals that are marginally onside.

“We wanted to make a game of it in the second half, we did at times, but the third goal kills the game. It’s never a free-kick. Really disappointed.

“I thought the second goal looked like we had frazzled minds from the kick-off. Liverpool want to press and we played straight into their hands. That’s where we have to have clearer minds and think clear under pressure. We know what we need to do now.”

Leeds face West Ham on Sunday while on Saturday Everton visit Wolves and Nottingham Forest welcome Arsenal to the City Ground.

The Whites will know before kick off at the London Stadium if a win will be enough to move out of the bottom three ahead of their final game of the season at home to Tottenham Hotspur.