Andy Hinchcliffe has theory on what Leeds United’s dressing room will do after Illan Meslier mistake

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Illan Meslier has had the chance to completely reset after his mistake in Leeds United’s 2-2 draw at Sunderland.

Meslier is one of a handful of Leeds players not on international duty right now and so Daniel Farke may have given him the chance to go away for a bit ahead of the resumption of club football.

Leeds were just seconds away from a hugely impressive win at Championship leaders Sunderland on Friday night, until Meslier’s incredible error earned them a point.

Farke said Meslier was in tears in Leeds’ dressing room at full-time, with the Elland Road boss saying he had never seen anything like it during 30 years in football.

Pascal Struijk claimed the ball actually hit a ‘massive dent’ in the pitch but Meslier will know as well as anyone it was a simple claim he should’ve taken.

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Hinchcliffe has Leeds dressing room theory

It would be fair to say Meslier’s teammates reacted in a few different ways to his error at the Stadium of Light.

Junior Firpo was seen storming down the tunnel after it actually went down as his own goal, having been just moments away from being the match-winner himself.

Others such as Ao Tanaka and Struijk, meanwhile, were quick to put an arm around him, though Jeff Stelling was very critical of the Leeds players’ reactions.

However, speaking on the latest episode of the ‘Essential EFL Podcast‘, Andy Hinchcliffe actually believes the need to rally round Meslier will bring Leeds’ dressing room closer together.

He said: “I think in a weird way it could actually bring the dressing room closer together. Again, yes it has cost them a couple of points, but it is the human aspect of it, what it does to his mental state and how he feels about himself.

“Those players can rally round him because it could have been them who made the error, it could’ve been an own goal. I think you understand, sympathise and close rank, I think he could come out of this stronger and the dressing room could get stronger because everyone pulls together on his behalf.”

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Alan Pardew has different Meslier Leeds solution

Former Premier League manager Alan Pardew has also discussed Meslier’s mistake in the last couple of days, but he has a different view of how to handle it.

He is of the opinion Leeds simply have to hold a behind-closed-doors meeting about the error to ensure there is no lingering ‘elephant in the room’.

He said: “You’re not going to point the finger – he’s feeling bad enough about it already. You have to talk about it. The team will want you to talk about it. It’s an elephant in the room so of course you talk about it.

“Even silly sending offs, you address it in a similar way – you deal with it separately. As a player, you have more downs than ups and you have to bounce back from it.”