Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen has lambasted his players for a ‘soft’ performance against Sheffield Wednesday that resulted in a third straight away defeat for the club.

The 3-0 loss against Wednesday comes at the back of disappointing trips to Cardiff and Millwall. Failure to take any points in these games have dropped Leeds to fifth in the Championship table with Christiansen questioning his players’ endurance to mount a serious challenge for the league title.

“If you can give me another word it will be fine but from my point of view we were not strong. When you have to compete in a league like this you have to be ready to compete 100 per cent, 120 per cent, making all the challenges like it’s the last one in the game,” he said.

“We went out in the first 20, 25 minutes and did quite well and had our opportunities. After that we conceded two goals too easily. We’re too soft in both boxes when the ball is there and we have to improve a lot in that sense.

“The whole season can’t be clean sheets. You will face good opponents, you will have bad luck some days. Now we’ve conceded too many goals and from my point of view it’s because we’re not strong enough. We’re not competing as we should in these situations.”

Leeds’ next Championship fixture is at Elland Road after the international break against a struggling Reading side who are 20th on the table.