Jesse Marsch: Leeds ‘would be screwed’ if I blamed Luke Ayling and Illan Meslier for Arsenal loss

Jesse Marsch claimed Leeds United would be “screwed” if he pointed the finger at captain Luke Ayling and Illan Meslier for the defeat at Arsenal that left his team with a mountain to climb in their fight for Premier League survival.

Meslier gifted Arsenal an early lead before Ayling was sent-off in the 27th minute for a ridiculous challenge on Gabriel Martinelli, when Leeds were already two goals down.

A Diego Llorente goal gave Marsch hope that Leeds can battle their way out of trouble and he insisted the team must stick together, despite individual mistakes and the fact Leeds sit in the relegation zone.

“If we start playing the blame games with players, we’re screwed,” said Marsch. “We’ve got to stick together and fight for points, it’s not a time to point the finger.”

Asked if he believes Leeds can get out of the relegation zone, Marsh added: “I do. We have to stay positive, stay strong and forage on. The focus is fully on Chelsea to prepare for a key game.

“We dug ourselves a massive hole and made a difficult task much, much more difficult. But our resolve and fight when the game was incredibly hard was amazing.”

On Ayling and Meslier, Marsh said: “The ironic thing was this was 500 games for Luke, but it was a moment of poor judgment. But he has been an incredible part of the team since I have been here.

“Young goalkeepers can make mistakes, but the rest of his game was quite good today. We are going to need him in the last three games.”

Arsenal can now clinch Champions League qualification by beating Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night and head coach Mikel Arteta said: “I want to prepare and go for the match, knowing it can be a defining match. It’s extra motivation to go for it and I can’t wait for the game.”