Sam Allardyce crossed his fingers at the end of his post-match press conference following Leeds United’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham.
That is according to Phil Hay, who reported Allardyce made the gesture as he walked out of the press room with Leeds’ hopes of survival now hanging by a thread.
It was another dreadful afternoon for the Whites as they once again dropped more points from a winning position to come away with nothing.
The game had started well for the visitors with openings arriving on a fairly regular basis until Rodrigo Moreno opened the scoring.
From Declan Rice’s equaliser onwards, though, it was all West Ham and they were able to capitalise on their dominance with second half goals from Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini.
Allardyce gesture after Leeds press conference
Allardyce’s gesture is a pretty accurate summary of what Leeds are relying on now to stay in the Premier League, which is a miracle.
They currently sit 18th in the table, two points adrift of safety and can only stay up if Everton are beaten by Bournemouth at Goodison Park and Leeds defeat Tottenham Hotspur.
A draw for Everton could also hand Leeds half an opportunity, but they would need to beat Spurs by a minimum of three goals.
That is, of course, also dependant on Leicester City not picking up enough points in their remaining two matches against Newcastle United and West Ham respectively.
Sunday was yet another example of a missed opportunity to put destiny in their own hands, and given West Ham were out celebrating in Europe not much more than 48 hours earlier, the second half was a shambles.
Leeds barely laid a glove on a Hammers side who were taking the mick by the end of the game and it really is only a miracle that will do on the final day next weekend.