Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney hit out at his side as they warmed up for Saturday’s trip to Elland Road with a 3-3 draw against Preston North End.
The former Manchester United striker saw his side claw their way back from 3-0 down to secure a point against the Lilywhites, but with the team sitting one place above the drop zone, Rooney was not satisfied.
Plymouth head to Elland Road to face Leeds United on Saturday and will begin the weekend just one point above to bottom three, while Leeds will be looking to strengthen their promotion credentials by returning to winning ways following their goalless draw at Bristol City this weekend.
Judging by his post-match comments, Rooney – who will no doubt receive a ‘lively’ welcome in West Yorkshire – will be looking for a reaction from his team.
Wayne Rooney’s ‘anger’ ahead of Leeds trip
“I’m angry, to be honest,” Rooney said following the Home Park stalemate. “That performance is nowhere near good enough. I was really disappointed for an hour of that game.
“It didn’t look like us at all. We were easy to play against. We weren’t putting tackles in, we weren’t getting to the ball. I’m obviously pleased we get a point out of the game but I can’t accept that performance.
“I’m frustrated. At 3-0, you are looking at it and you are concerned. I tried to get attacking players on and get more balls in the box. We didn’t do that enough, which is something we have worked on and looked at over the last couple of days, and we didn’t do that at all for an hour. Really pleased to get a point at the end but the performance was nowhere near good enough.
“We have to keep working. There has been games this season where we have been really good. The last three we have hit a little bit of a blip so we need to snap out of it because today could have been a lot worse.”
Rooney’s record against Leeds United
Rooney has only come up against Leeds once as a manager, but it’s game he will remember for all of the wrong reasons.
The former England captain took his Birmingham side to Elland Road in January but was sacked after a 3-0 defeat, ending his 83-day, 15-match tenure in charge of the Blues.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  SunderlandSunderland | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 28 |
| 2 |  BurnleyBurnley | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 23 |
| 3 |  LeedsLeeds | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 23 |
| 4 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 22 |
| 5 |  West BromWest Brom | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
As a player, he also suffered a memorable defeat, as he played all 90 minutes of Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to Leeds in the iconic FA Cup third-round tie in 2010 which saw the third-tier Whites knocking out Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in one of the biggest upsets in the modern era.
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