Weston McKennie considers Leeds United 'damage' with 'DNA' vow and big date aim

McKennie's relegation-battling Whites were on course to move five points clear of the drop zone when holding a 1-0 lead against Sunday's visitors Crystal Palace but the hosts collapsed after the interval en route to a sobering 5-1 defeat.

Juventus loanee McKennie pulled no punches in his assessment of United's second half display, admitting his men had ultimately not done their jobs by failing to recover from Palace's late first half equaliser and then shipping in four goals without reply after the break.

McKennie, though, despite only being at the club for less than three months, is fully aware of United's history in bouncing back and says Javi Gracia's side will be ready for Monday night's visit of Liverpool as the fifth-bottom Whites face up to eight more games which will decide their survival fate.

"I think, for us, we know the reality of the situation," said McKennie, asked how much damage had been done through the Palace defeat. "We know that this was a big game for us and for them as well.

"But Leeds is a club that knows how to bounce back and knows how to not give up in any situation and that's what we're going to stick to. It's our DNA. We'll just be ready for the next game against Liverpool and hope to get three points there."

Speaking to post match media after Sunday's defeat, McKennie insisted that his side should have been able to overcome the obvious blow of Palace equalising in first half stoppage time at the end of a 45 minutes which Leeds had dominated.

“Honestly, I would say it helped them," he said. "But at the end of the day it's our jobs as professionals to deal with the consequences and deal with the goals scored against us and come back out in the second half prepared to score again. But it didn’t work like that and now we just have to recover, analyse and we have eight days until our next big game."

Pressed on whether he could explain what happened against Palace - just five days after Leeds had impressed in beating Nottingham Forest - McKennie admitted: "Honestly, I don't think I can really explain how it happened. I think that's just something that happens. It's in the moment.

"The preparation was good. Everyone understood what to do and on the field it just turned out to be a little bit different going into the second half. But we'll analyse, we'll learn, the players, coaching staff, everyone, and look forward to the next game and try and get a good result there.”