Joe Rodon left fuming with "naive" Leeds United in Blackburn loss | OneFootball

Daniel Farke's players weren't their usual selves on Saturday at Ewood Park.

"Naive" was the way that Joe Rodon described Leeds United's performance in their 1-0 loss to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Leeds failed to remain in the top spot in the Championship this weekend. Their defeat at Ewood Park combined with Sheffield United beating fellow promotion hopefuls Sunderland meant that Daniel Farke's side dropped to third in the league and are now three points off the lead.

Todd Cantwell gave Illan Meslier no chance with his penalty. It was won by Tyrhys Dolan after he collided with Ao Tanaka in the box, and Farke's former player stepped up to slot the ball into the corner of the net, giving Blackburn a lead that they would never relinquish.

Joe Rodon makes "naive" Leeds United admission

It was a very uncharacteristic performance by Leeds. They gave up a lot more chances than usual - 2.17 expected goals (xG) and four big chances for Blackburn, as per Sofascore - and struggled to finish the ones that fell their way.

Rodon admitted to LUTV that he and his teammates weren't good enough in front of goal on the day. He partially put this down to what he felt was a negative defensive setup from John Eustace's side.

"No. I just think we were a bit naive," said the Welsh defender when quizzed on whether they did enough to score. "We just lacked a cutting edge.

"Of course, we can all say it's difficult to break down a team when they have got the whole team behind the ball. But when it's not our day, when those chances do come, you have to take them. We didn't and unfortunately we were punished."

Leeds can't blame Blackburn's setup for their poor performance in front of goal

When you are a side with the offensive firepower that Leeds have, you're going to come up against teams that have the main aim of stifling you, rather than trying to be effective going forward themselves. That's just part of being a top team in any league; you're going to have to break down some low blocks from time to time.

Now, in fairness, Rodon didn't fully pin the blame on Blackburn for Leeds' inability to score, he did admit that the Whites need to be better. Regardless of that, a side that is fighting for automatic promotion for the second year running can't afford to be sagging their lips and moaning about how opponents play against them.

You're better than most teams, they are going to try and get points against you by any means necessary: deal with it. That's what champions do.