Leeds United news: Jesse Marsch admits Dan James tackle 'crossed the line' in Chelsea defeat

Leeds started the game inside the relegation zone following recent good results for Burnley and Everton.

A solid start was probably what they needed at Elland Road, but hopes of that quickly evaporated after Mason Mount opened the scoring inside the first five minutes.

Things went from bad to worse later in the first half when James was shown his marching orders for a horror tackle on Mateo KovaÄić.

Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku added some gloss to the scoreline for Chelsea after the break, but it was all too familiar for Marsch following Luke Ayling's first half red card at Arsenal on Saturday.

Speaking to the BBC after the game, Marsch said: "I'm gutted.

"We give up an early goal and go down a man again - deja vu.

"We don't get a chance to stay in the game and see if we can test ourselves and come away with more. We lose another player.

"Two tackles in the last two games that were a little bit crossing the line and hurting the team.

"First I felt it wasn't a red, I haven't seen it yet but I was told it was a red. Dan said he didn't mean to do it, he was just trying to be aggressive and win the ball and caught him in a bad way."

Despite Leeds once again shooting themselves int he foot, Marsch was keen not to point the finger at any of his troops.

"One thing for sure is I'm not going to sit here and blame anyone," he said. "Our guys do everything they can, they stick together, they fight for each other, they do everything they can to keep this team in the match and the league.

"I love these players."

James will now join Ayling in missing Leeds' remaining two games of the season, with Leeds also becoming the first team in Premier League history to receive 100 yellow cards in a single campaign.