Former Premier League star forced to answer awkward question live on Sky Sports ahead of huge EFL clash
LUKE AYLING was forced to answer an awkward question as his Middlesbrough side took on parent club Leeds.
The defender spent eight years at Leeds before joining Boro on loan in January.
Luke Ayling revealed he wanted football to win between Middlesbrough and Leeds
That meant he was not eligible to play as Leeds visited the Riverside Stadium on Monday in search of three points to help their promotion push.
Ahead of kick-off Ayling spoke to Sky Sports and was asked for his score prediction and who he thought would win – leading to a nervy answer.
He said: “I want football to win. I love football and if I’m totally honest I really cant call it.
“Like I said I haven’t seen Leeds a lot lately but I’ve seen these boys on the training pitch and how we’ve played the last 9-10 games.
“I’m really confident the boys can put in a good shift today. Who knows but I’m just hoping for a good game of football.”
Ayling certainly got what he asked for as Boro raced into an early lead with Isaiah Jones scoring in the seventh minute.
But the visitors hit back with two goals in four minutes – only for Emmanuel Latte Lath to equalise.
However Wilfried Gnonto fired Leeds back in front to give Daniel Farke’s side a 3-2 lead at half-time.
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Leeds are on the promotion hunt but need Ipswich to drop points in their three remaining games to achieve automatic promotion.
It has been some turnaround for the west Yorkshire side who suffered relegation from the Premier League last season.
