Yeovil 1 Leeds 2: Brian McDermott praises his players despite ongoing questions over his future

Leeds backed up last week's 5-1 victory with a hard-fought win over Yeovil as McDermott returned to the dugout

Brian McDermott returned to guide Leeds to a 2-1 win over Yeovil (GETTY IMAGES)

Leeds manager Brian McDermott praised his side as they finished a testing week with a 2-1 win at Yeovil in the Sky Bet Championship.

After losing his job at the club last Friday by representatives of prospective new owner Massimo Cellino, only to be reinstated by the club two days later, McDermott is hoping for no further off-field drama as Leeds look forwards.

On Friday, controversial Italian Cellino agreed a deal to buy a 75 per cent stake in the club, subject to Football League approval which will require the convicted fraudster to pass an 'owners and directors test'.

But McDermott was pleased to let the football do the talking on Saturday.

Ishmael Miller headed the home side into the lead after 32 minutes but failed to double their advantage just before half-time as his penalty struck the crossbar.

Leeds equalised straight after the break as captain Ross McCormack lifted the ball over the home defence from just outside the 18-yard box and floated it beyond Yeovil goalkeeper Marek Stech to make it 1-1.

The visitors took the lead on the hour as Stephen Warnock curled in his free-kick from 20 yards out from the right wing and they held on for all three points.

The Leeds boss told Sky Sports 1: "I haven't had any (contact with Massimo Cellino)....I spoke to them originally.

"I think from my point of view the only thing that matters is that result today....as for the prospective new owner, the only thing that mattered to him today was that result.

"The common ground that any owner and any manager would have if you were at Leeds United would be to get Leeds United back to where we belong and now we've got that common ground it's absolutely certain."

The 52-year-old Leeds boss was not looking too far ahead, but is confident he can lead the club in the right direction amid the uncertainty surrounding the club.

He said: "I can't worry about (the future), all I can do is concentrate on the dressing room, the players, the supporters, staff and what's important for me is to have everyone going in the same direction and that's what we want going forward.

"The most important thing for Leeds United at this time is to stabilise the football club and make sure that that's right and that's really, really important.

"From my point of view we want to to win the next game.

"But long-term, this football club really needs to be stable, needs to be in a good place and we don't want too much drama.

"We want all our drama to be on the pitch if we can, that's all I'm looking for.

"No drama off the pitch, just drama on the pitch and if we can have that, I'll be very pleased."

McDermott was delighted the players and fans came out in support after a difficult week.

United returned to winning ways with a 5-1 victory over Huddersfield a week ago and McDermott believes this positive reaction is what the club needs.

He added: "I think you could see that. You saw that against Huddersfield. You could see that reaction from the supporters.

"We've got an army of supporters behind us. They have been absolutely terrific.

"And I get that feeling - I said to (assistant manager) Nigel Gibbs - we have this real bond going forward and we're going to need that.

"The last four games we've been getting back on track - we're unbeaten in our last three now and we go to Brighton back on track."

Man of the match McCormack was pleased with his side's performance despite the off-field distraction over the past week. He said: "You can't fault the character we showed in the second half, and in the end we thoroughly deserved the win."

When asked how difficult it has been at Elland Road this week, second goalscorer Warnock added: "It's just been business as usual for us. New owners have come in but we just get on with it."

PA